


Untouchable

by Mina37



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Asexual Midoriya Izuku, How Do I Tag, Let Midoriya Izuku Swear, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Go to U.A. High School, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have All For One Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku has Lightning Flames, Midoriya Izuku is Ghost (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!), Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sensei | All For One is Midoriya Hisashi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, Villain Midoriya Izuku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:26:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 41,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28933989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mina37/pseuds/Mina37
Summary: Turns out, Midoriya Izuku wasn't quirkless. Not that he realized that until he suddenly got memories from a future never meant to happen, where he ended up going insane after killing his soulmate during a mission ordered by his boss.Soulmate, who just so happens to be Hawks.Boss, who is a villain mastermind called Byakuran.Well, shit.
Relationships: Byakuran (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!) & Midoriya Izuku, Byakuran/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Midoriya Izuku & Sawada Tsunayoshi, Midoriya Izuku/Takami Keigo | Hawks, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 195
Kudos: 404





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! There's a few things I want to say before you start reading this, so I would appreciate if you could spare a bit more time!
> 
> 1\. I am not a native speaker of English. If you notice any mistakes, I would really appreciate it if you could point them out to me!
> 
> 2\. This is the first time I'm posting a story here on AO3. If you have any tips for me, especially about tagging, please send help. For that matter, if you feel like there's something I should tag but haven't, tell me. I'll get that sorted out asap.
> 
> 3\. This is going to be a long story. I've been writing it for a while now, so I have quite a bit written out already. This first chapter is more of a prologue than anything, so it's quite short, but I promise that the following chapters will be longer. Just a little warning though, that the story is long. I will also be updating the tags as I go.
> 
> 4\. There will be no smut whatsoever. This is not negotiable.

Life had never been easy for Midoriya Izuku. It had never been easy for him to… do any of the things anyone else had done, really. Simply, life had ever been easy for him.

He’d always been bullied. For as long as he could remember, people had had their opinions about him. About his quirk. Or rather, his lack of a quirk.

Which turned out to be false. Of course it did. It just made sense that the very thing, the very reason he had suffered so much during his life, turned out to be just another lie. A false truth. Nothing in his life had ever been guaranteed, let alone the one truth, the one _fact_ he’d always known since he was 5 years old and he’d sat at that doctor’s office.

Additional joint in his pinky toe. What a fucking joke it was.

Of course it was. Something like it… it was hardly a good indicator of quirklessness to begin with.

Of course, he hadn’t found out about that until he was in his late teens to early 20s. When he’d already left his past behind him.

After he’d sold his soul to the devil.

He hadn’t intended to. After finding out about the man that was his biological father, about the atrocities he had done… after finding out about the truth of his quirklessness, the truth of his own quirk… He had intended to steer clear from villainy. He had intended to stick to being a civilian. If he couldn’t be a hero… he wanted to be a normal civilian, at least. He wanted nothing to do with villainy, no matter what it was about, after all.

Figures that he couldn’t do something that simple, even.

Byakuran and his honeyed words were too much to resist, for someone like him. For a youngster like him, who had never known love beyond what his mother had given him. For a youngster like him, who had never been allowed to enjoy the companionship of another human being.

Midoriya Inko had done her best. She’d tried to raise him to be a good person. She’d done her best… but sometimes, doing your best wasn’t enough. Not, when everyone else was insistent on vandalizing your work.

Izuku fell… and he fell hard.

Vaguely, he could remember. Once upon a time, he had wanted to become a hero.

If he could, he would laugh at the mere thought. Him, a hero?

No. He was anything _but_ a hero. Already at birth, it had been decided. He, of all people, had never stood a chance of becoming a hero. He’d always been the very opposite of a hero. The antichrist to the holiness of heroics.

He had tried to avoid it. But Byakuran had seen right through him. And he’d taken his hand, and dragged him to the world his father had once claimed he ruled… and been completely outmatched by his own brother’s blood.

Now Izuku was helping weed out the last of it.

Just like he’d helped weed out the last of Japan’s heroes.

He hadn’t wanted to. But it had been an order from Byakuran.

A day didn’t go by when he didn’t regret it.

Just the very thought made him want to… it made him want to spread out the tiny little, lightbeam-like tentacles that sought out any living being and activate his quirk.

The very thought of that day… of holding his soulmate… of the bloody hand that pressed on his cheek…

He sucked more, and more, Flames into himself. But none of them brought him the relief he hoped for. They usually always did, when he finally got them. It got to the point where he didn’t care _whose_ Flames it was he took, as long as he did.

All he wanted was that relief of stealing another person’s life force. That’s _all_ he wanted.

So why? Why couldn’t he get it?!

He raged, and raged. He raged, until someone tried to pull him in. He fought back.

Then… nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku wakes up.
> 
> He wasn't expecting to. For a couple of reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I promised a longer chapter, so here it is! I hope you like it!
> 
> Again, if you notice any mistakes, please let me know!

Izuku didn’t expect to wake up again. For a few reasons. He always had a few reasons why he didn’t expect to wake up again.

He couldn’t remember losing consciousness. Not really. It wasn’t unusual, per say, but it did make him pause for a moment. He tried to look through his memory, to figure out what had happened.

He could remember, rather vaguely, how Bakugo had told him to kill himself. He’d stolen his notebook, blown it up and thrown it out the window. Then he’d just told him to take a swan dive off the rooftop.

Was… Was that it? Had he tried to kill himself? After all this time, after a decade of pain and suffering, he’d finally gotten enough? Even when he’d promised himself, for his mother’s sake, that he would never do anything of the sort?

But as he followed his trail of thought, the trail of his memories, he found that to be false. He hadn’t tried to kill himself. He hadn’t attempted to die. But he almost had. With a bit of help from outside, so to say.

The man made of sludge had risen from the sewers, completely unexpected. His 14-year-old, almost 15-year-old, body had had no way of reacting to its presence until it had been too late. Quirkless as he was, there had been nothing he could have done. Not while that thing was forcing its sludge body down his throat, into his windpipe, into his _lungs_. He could vaguely remember the laughter, as it had mocked him. Mocked him as it was trying to kill him.

And it was an it. A villain, a creature like that, didn’t deserve any other pronoun to be used. It was the worst kind of villain, one that was so terrified of measly heroes, that it had to resort to using civilians as its meat shields. It was nothing like a true career villain, who would look a hero in the eyes and laugh, telling them to attack if they had the guts.

Quite a few didn’t.

Such thoughts made him pause, and blink. Because, they seemed… somehow like they weren’t exactly in accordance with… with him.

It just made him suddenly remember yet another reason why he should not have woken up.

A vague memory, of a field, of a clearing in the woods. Filled with people. With so many other people. Some of them familiar… yet their names escaped his memory. People he should have known, but who he couldn’t. He’d spent too much time away from them, in the darkness, to remember who they were, exactly.

He remembered being sucked in. A boy, looking awfully much like a tiny version of his 1 st  cousin who knows how many times removed, staring at him with determination. Sucking him in…

And then everything just… disappeared.

Izuku blinked, staring up at the blue, blue sky. His head was a mess, memory after memory assaulting his brain.

“Aah! Good, you’re awake!”

Blinking, shaking his head in an effort to stop the memories from getting the better of him, he slowly sat up and looked at the person who had spoken. He blinked, staring up at the tall and muscular man with blond hair, styled upwards, almost like rabbit’s ears. There was a wide grin on his face.

Izuku didn’t need to think at all to recognize him. It came like second nature to him. Almost like it was his very own name, so fast his name came to Izuku’s memory.

It was All Might. Or, as his civilian name turned out to be in the end, Yagi Toshinori.

Except… that couldn’t be true.

No one knew All Might’s real name, his civilian name. Not a single soul on Earth.

But that was how he was known after his retirement. After retiring, it wasn’t like he could just go by his hero name all the time. So he’d told everyone his real name.

But All Might was right there. He hadn’t retired.

But Izuku could clearly remember being on his first year in high school. He could clearly remember the summer that year. He could remember Bakugo getting kidnapped by the League of Villains, and the following rescue. He could remember All Might being there, and fighting in Kamino Ward. Kamino Ward, which became his last stand against a villain. He’d won and saved Bakugo, sure… but the cost had been the rest of the League of Villains managing to run.

He _remembered_ it.

But just as he could remember that… he could remember other things, too. With a clarity he didn’t think he ever would, anymore. He remembered Bakugo clearly suicide baiting him earlier that day. That shouldn’t have been possible. It had been _years_ since he had forgotten all about it, since he’d come to forget most things involving Bakugo altogether. He could also remember Mt. Lady’s debut, like it had just happened earlier that day… and not like it had happened almost a decade ago, like the woman wasn’t _dead_ already.

Yet, he could remember so much more. He remembered being in high school. He remembered All for One and the League of Villains. He remembered being 17 years old and finding out the truth about his father. He remembered being 18 years old, and learning that he was never quirkless, after all. He remembered being 18 years old and finally, _finally_ , coming to the realization of what his quirk was. He remembered being 19 years old and meeting Byakuran for the first time, and quickly falling for his tactics. He remembered being 19 years old and selling his soul to the devil.

He remembered being 22 years old, and killing Hawks.

Oh, god. Hawks.

Swallowing thickly, trying to keep himself from vomiting by gritting his teeth and breathing slowly, he brought his hand up to his chest. He clasped his hand around his uniform shirt, at the very center of his chest. There, beneath the fabric, was his soulmate mark, forever etched upon his skin, like a tattoo. A hawk with its wings spread, with a vine with ghost flowers around its body, worn almost like a royal cape or robe, or something. At first glance, most people thought it looked like the hawk was showing the flower off – wearing it around its body and boasting to all its brethren about the treasure it had found.

But Izuku knew better. Years of staring at the mark, years of experience, had taught him many things. They had given him an insight that he had never had as a young teenager, that most people couldn’t have after seeing it once or twice.

The hawk, for all that its wings were spread, wasn’t flying. It wasn’t showing off the beautiful flower it had found. It wasn’t boasting to its brethren.

No. It was stuck.

The hawk had just settled down on the ground for a little rest. It had just touched the ground and fallen asleep there, only for a moment. But while it had slept, the flower had crawled its way over. It had made sure its roots were deep down in the ground and sturdy, before wrapping around the bird. By the time the hawk had woken up, the vines around it were holding it down too hard. Even when it spread its wings and used all of its strength to escape, there simply was no escape. Not from the death trap it had found itself in.

His soulmate mark, which tied him to _Hawks_ , of all people, depicted a cruel scene of an animal that belonged to the sky, free, being trapped to the ground, caged. The mark tying him to Hawks, the number three hero…

Wait. Number three?

But that was right. He was 14 years old. Hawks had just made it into the third spot in the rankings.

He was 14 years old?

But he could have sworn he was 24 years old…

That didn’t make any sense, though?

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a snapping noise. Blinking, he noticed that All Might had leaned in close. His hand was just in front of his face, his fingers positioned so that Izuku could understand that he’d snapped them.

He blinked a few times. “Huh?”

“Are you alright?” All Might frowned. He glanced down at his chest, at the hand that was still clasping at his shirt. “Are you in pain?”

“U-Uh...” A million thoughts went through his head. No, he wasn’t okay. He wasn’t exactly in pain, but what had just happened was so weird that he couldn’t quite explain it. Maybe saying he was in pain was true, more or less.

He knew, logically, that he should just tell him the truth. Tell him everything he knew. Tell him about what was to come. About All for One and the League of Villains.

But something stopped him.

Time travel, while not the most absurd thing that had happened in the world as they knew it, was still something that people were wary of. Just suddenly claiming, from out of nowhere, that he’d time traveled… that would make anyone look at him weirdly and suggest any doctor to send him to the mental ward. Time travel wasn’t something that happened often… and not without the help of a quirk. If time travel happened, the people involved could always know the exact mechanic. They knew how they time traveled.

Izuku _didn’t_.

Telling was more of a risk than it wasn’t. He’d be safer, not saying anything.

That, and… Izuku was a fan of All Might’s. He could remember being a fanboy.

But he could also remember clutching onto the man’s leg and crashing onto a rooftop. He could remember talking about his supposed quirklessness, of his wish and dream to be a _hero_ , of all things. He could remember the rejection that came afterwards, the dismissal. He could remember being left on the roof, all on his own. And, briefly, he could remember considering Bakugo’s suggestion.

He could remember the day he met his idol, and how he’d lost any admiration for him on that very same day.

Deep inside, he had always known. He had always known he couldn’t be a hero.

But with his new memories… he knew it, better than ever before.

He had no future in heroics.

But he also knew… with his quirk… with his _pedigree…_ He didn’t have a future being a civilian, either.

What little respect he’d had for heroes, before, he’d lost the day he realized that they’d all hunt him down if they knew who his biological father was.

The future… the past? The him who knew things he could have never hoped to know at age 14 kept him from telling the truth to the man in front of him.

He knew All Might’s secret. Knew Yagi Toshinori’s most tightly kept secret.

He also knew that the man would take almost any excuse to just leave.

“I’m fine.” Once upon a time, he might have stuttered. But he had long since lost that ability. He was… He was Midoriya Izuku. He was _Ghost_.

He didn’t _stutter_.

“I just suddenly realized that that… was a really close call.” He smiled. Years upon years of suffering and faking a smile made it so that Izuku was just really, _really_ good at acting. He could fake almost anything, with just his body language and expressions. It was only thanks to that skill learned through years and years of hard practice that he managed to make his smile convincing, giving it just enough panic to make his words believable without making All Might too concerned of him. “I haven’t met my soulmate yet, and I mean, I don’t usually think about it but… I don’t know. It’s really crazy how something like this can make you so hyperaware of having a soulmate, you know?”

The man looked at him with understanding, and just a bit of pity, for some reason. He nodded in understanding, though, and gave him a salute. “Well, then, I’ll be on my way. I have to turn this guy in to the police, after all!”

Rushing to stand up, he made sure to bow. With his face at an angle where he couldn’t see, he sneered, briefly. When he spoke, though, no one could have guessed from his tone alone what kind of face he was making. “Thank you for your hard work!”

Without replying anything back, All Might jumped off.

Izuku straightened up, looking after the man. Briefly, he spread out his senses to track his Flames as he sailed over the buildings.

But it had the unfortunate side effect of making him aware of the people around him. Their Flames flickering. Storms, Rains, Lightnings, Suns, Mists, Clouds… A single Wrath Flame in the distance…

… Huh. Who would have thought there was a Sky Flame, even if it was hidden as a Wrath Flame, so close to him. If he’d known of that years ago…

But he hadn’t. No, even if he had, what would that have changed? Bakugo had always rejected him, since the very beginning. He could hardly remember a time he called him Kacchan, except that his 14-year-old memory could still remember calling him that just earlier that day. It had been a long time since they’d been actually friendly towards each other, though… so Bakugo could have hardly stopped Izuku from selling his soul to the devil.

But he hadn’t met Byakuran yet?

He could remember it very clearly, though.

He could also remember dying…

So if he was 14 years old again, somehow… If he had traveled back in time, for some reason… Then, if that was truly the case… was Hawks still…?

Without another thought, he turned to a random direction and started running. He didn’t care where he ran, he didn’t care who he crossed. None of it mattered. He just had to run, and run, and run. As far as he could, without looking back.

He couldn’t handle this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! If you like this story, I'd like for you to let me know by either leaving kudos or commenting!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time travel is confusing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the last chapter, but for the sake of clarity, I'm going to be using Vindice when referring to the people and Vendicare when referring to the prison. I took a look at the KHR Wiki and it says that they're both Vindice, but I've seen Vendicare used somewhere, at least. I'm also pretty sure that I somewhere, at some point, saw the prison and the people being referred to as Vendicare and Vindice, respectively. I guess it just stuck and now I can't call both of them Vindice, even if that could be the official name.
> 
> If this bothers you, I'm really sorry.

Time travel. He had, actually, somehow, traveled through time, back to the past.

After his impromptu panic attack, he’d wandered through the city. He’d wandered for quite some time, before he had eventually found his feet taking him to… to his mother’s apartment. To the place where he could vaguely remember living his whole life. The apartment building filled with memories, some good, some not so good. Of playing with Bakugo when they were little kids, of stumbling up the stairs with burns covering his whole body… of his mother cooking for him… of leaving the place for good.

It had been a long time, since he had thought of his mother. Of the apartment he used to live in. Though it was filled with both good and bad memories, even the good memories were tinged with darkness, with the pain of the bad memories. Every good memory of his childhood, with Bakugo, was tainted with the memories of all the things Bakugo had done to him. All the bruises, the burns, the cuts… the pain of every single hit… they tainted the good memories he had of him.

As for his mother… Well. He had the good memories of her. But it was all tainted with the knowledge of who his father was. The knowledge of all the things that had happened after… after now.

Izuku was 14 years old. He was 14 years old again. Nearly 15 years old. In his last year in middle school. He was still going to Aldera Middle School, in the same class as Bakugo was.

He was almost a decade into the past. And it wasn’t his body itself that had traveled, suggesting that it wasn’t the work of the accursed bazooka of the Bovino Famiglia. No, instead, it was his memories that had returned to the body of his younger self. Or his mind that now inhabited his younger body?

He didn’t know. In the end, it probably didn’t even matter. He was in the past… and that was the main point.

He was still curious, though. Because he had no idea how this had happened. He had no idea how he had ended up in the past. What could have caused something like that?

He could swear his cousin who knows how many times removed was involved, though.

Izuku didn’t know the man too well. But he had heard the whispers of him having an ability similar to Izuku’s own quirk. Similar, but not the same. An ability where he could convert other people’s Flames into his own.

He knew he hadn’t exactly been… at his sanest… for a while now. Vendicare did that to a person. Even before that, though, what had happened, what he had _done_ , had left Izuku’s mind broken. After his ensuing… temper tantrum, he supposed it could be called… he hadn’t exactly been in any shape to cancel his Asura Box. Spending any sort of extended period with that thing open wasn’t good for anyone’s health… that added with him being in Vendicare…

He had had his Asura Box open.

It wasn’t too difficult to come to the conclusion that the tiny version of Vongola Decimo had used his technique to suck him in, trying to convert his Flames into his own. Except that wouldn’t have worked, because Izuku’s Asura Box worked specifically by rerouting all Flames straight to Byakuran.

But it did make him think. Because while he wasn’t exactly… aware… during his last moments in the future. He wasn’t stupid, either. It didn’t take him long to figure out that the tiny Vongola Decimo was, in fact, Vongola Decimo – just from the past. Which meant that unless he died in his battle against Byakuran, then he must have returned back to the past.

Could that be how he gained his memories? His Flames, inside Vongola Decimo, had returned to his younger body after they returned to the past, seeking their true host?

He had never heard of anything like it before. Then again, the number of people who could convert other people’s Flames into their own were rare. Those who could also travel through time were even rarer.

Still. It didn’t seem like a good enough explanation. It didn’t feel like an explanation at all, in fact. There was no logic in it, not to Izuku’s brain.

So, he went to the one place he could find information from. The internet.

It… wasn’t exactly easy to find anything, mind you. He couldn’t outright search for anything relating to Dying Will Flames, or mafia. There was a reason those were hidden from the public. He also didn’t fancy another meeting with the Vindice. He’d already spent enough time in Vendicare, after being sentenced there. He didn’t want to add to his sentence.

Speaking of his sentence, though…

He was in YouTube, watching a video of news. In the video, the news anchor was detailing what was known about the mysterious earthquake that had shaken a large part of the world simultaneously. Two countries were known to be at the very center of it, Japan and Italy. The distance between the two countries made the earthquake so mysterious, leading many to speculate that it was the work of some villain. Their aims were unknown, and even their identities. But just because Japan and Italy were at the centers of the earthquake, that didn’t mean they were the only countries that were hit. In addition, China, Australia, Hawaii and South Africa, at the very least, were hit by the mysterious earthquake. Why, no one knew.

Izuku was frowning, staring at the screen as the video came to an end. He was trying to figure out what it was about the video that made him pause, that made him feel like this was it. This was his clue. His one and only clue to figuring out how he had traveled through time. It was something about those countries that had been hit that made him pause. He just couldn’t understand what it was.

The moment the video came to an end, the first video on the bar to the right of the player popped up on the screen. For a few seconds, he was given an option to not play the recommended video, before it would play.

A glance at the thumbnail and the title of the video made Izuku close the tab. He didn’t press the option to not play the video, no. He closed the whole tab. In that same moment, he pushed off of his desk, rolling his chair far away from the laptop sitting there.

He didn’t stop until he hit the closed door leading out of his room and into the hallway. There, he sat, eyes wide as he stared at the screen. His breathing stuttering as his hands shook. All he could do was stare. The world felt like it was somehow too small, and yet, at the same time, like it was too big.

Hawks. Hawks, also known as the number three hero. His real name, Takami Keigo. Not that there were many people in the world who knew that. He had, after all, given that name away when he had started training to become a hero. When the Hero Commission had started molding him into the next All Might, even.

When the Hero Commission had bought him, like a slave.

He had no idea what the video was about. Probably just another one about Hawks’ fast ascension in the ranks. That was what they were all talking about, after all. No one… No one cared about anything else, except the hero. No one cared about the man behind the mask of a hero.

Izuku closed his eyes tightly. For a few minutes, he just breathed. Deeply, in, and out. In, and out. In, and out.

Hawks was alive. Izuku had never even _met_ him.

He was alive. They both were.

Izuku wasn’t in Vendicare.

He hadn’t killed Hawks yet.

Opening his eyes, he stared down at his hands. Accursed memories, of them stained in blood, surfaced in his head. Gritting his teeth, he curled his fingers, so that his hands were tightened into fists. He tightened them even further, until the only thing he could feel was pain. Until his palms were burning with pain, until he could see the blood seeping through his fingers. Until the only thing he could think of were the crescent-shaped cuts on his palms. Until the only thing he could think of was the pain.

That was fine.

He deserved every bit of the pain, for what he had done.

…

At some point, when Katsuki hadn’t been watching, something changed in Deku.

He didn’t know when it happened. All he knew was that one day, Deku was the same old he had always been. The same old weakling. The same old little shit who cowered at the slightest sign of violence. The same old weakling who couldn’t help but flinch at the sound of any explosion caused by Katsuki’s quirk. He’d been the same he always was.

And then, the next… something was different.

Katsuki couldn’t even really place it. What was it that was different in him. Katsuki couldn’t truly place it. All he knew was that, despite the fact that Deku still cowered, still flinched at the appropriate timings… _something_ was different. He wasn’t the same.

Katsuki couldn’t place it. He couldn’t say what had changed, and when that change had happened. But he knew something had.

Every instinct in his body told him to run. The moment he caught sight of Deku, be it at school or outside, his whole body would tense up, ready for a fight. Ready to bolt at the sign. What that sign was, Katsuki had no clue. All he knew was that his very being wanted to be as far away from Deku as possible.

It wasn’t a new feeling. It wasn’t a feeling Katsuki wasn’t used to.

He had been 5 years old when he first felt it, he was pretty sure. It was after Deku had already been diagnosed as quirkless. After everyone found out that he’d never, ever, get a quirk, like the rest of them. That he would forever be the same useless Deku he’d always been.

Katsuki remember how he had first beat Deku up. Accidentally, mind you. He hadn’t really meant to. But he’d stood in the way, while he was showing off his magnificent quirk, the quirk that was better than everyone else’s. Deku had gotten hit, but he’d been in the way. No one had really said anything about it. The teachers at their kindergarten had just scolded Deku for being in the way to begin with.

That’s what Deku had always been doing. Being in the way.

He’d been about to apologize for it, anyways. Because he hadn’t meant to hit Deku, for all that he was useless and in the way and a deku. At that age, he knew he should apologize for things like that. So he was going to. He’d found Deku after the teachers had patched him up, waiting for Auntie Inko to pick him up.

He didn’t remember much about that… meeting. All he remembered was Deku looking at him, and that feeling overcoming him. That feeling of every atom in his body wanting to run away. That feeling that was like fear, but… more.

Like his very existence relied on staying away from Deku.

Ever since then… for as long as Katsuki could remember… Deku had had this look in his eyes. Like he was hungry.

Katsuki wasn’t afraid of it. He _wasn’t_.

But sometimes… Sometimes, he wondered if that look had something to do with that feeling he got around Deku.

Aah… Now he knew what had changed.

That hungry look in Deku’s eyes.

Katsuki was used to it being hidden. Hidden behind a facade. Behind looks of fear and hopes and dreams and desperation and whatever the fuck the little shit felt at every turn. It was always hidden, beneath the surface. Mocking everyone around him, hiding a predator in front of them.

It wasn’t, anymore.

Somehow, at some point… Deku had let that hungry look out. Out of hiding. Now, it was out for everyone to see.

No one but Katsuki still saw it.

But the rest could be idiots all they wanted. Because Katsuki wasn’t.

He was the only fucking predator here.

And if he had to get rid of Deku… then he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated, as well as any suggestions you may have!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byakuran makes an appearance

For a while, Izuku thought that he might survive. He might just survive through middle school, at least. He wasn’t yet sure about what he’d do about his future, what high school he’d try for, but he was sure that he could figure it out eventually. He knew he had no future in heroics, so that wasn’t an option. But he also knew that being a civilian would only work for so long for him, especially with his quirk. Sooner or later, he’d be dragged into villainy anyways. It was only a matter of when and where, exactly, he was dragged.

He had every intention of waiting until he graduated from high school, at least, before he ventured over to that side of the world. Waiting until the League of Villains was out of the way, until the Meta Liberation Army was out. Until their fall left behind a power vacuum for all different villain organizations to fill.

It was how Millefiore, how Gesso, had managed to gather so much power, so quickly. They’d waited until the biggest players were out of the play before they made anything of themselves. They’d filled the power vacuum with themselves. They’d become the power and authority in the wake of their predecessors.

It was only during that time, that anyone could truly gain any power. That was what Izuku believed. And so, he intended to hold on at least until then. Where he would go, exactly… he didn’t know. All he knew was that he wanted to avoid Millefiore, and Gesso. He wanted to avoid _Byakuran_. The man who had made him do all the things he had, all the terrible things. The man who hadn’t given a fuck about him. Not about him, not about Bluebell, Kikyo, Zakuro, Daisy, Torikabuto… Byakuran hadn’t given a flying fuck about them. Only about himself.

They weren’t a family. Not like a Famiglia was supposed to be.

They were just Byakuran’s pawns on a giant chessboard.

Izuku didn’t want anything to do with that, again. He wanted a family, people who he could rely on.

He had every intention of not getting involved with anything now. Not when All for One was still the one in power. Becoming a villain right now would only lead him into his lair, to be just one more useless pawn for _that man_.

It figures, that according to his family’s abysmal luck, that wouldn’t be the case.

It had been a normal day. Normal day by his 14-year-old self’s standards, anyways. He’d woken up and had breakfast with his mother. They’d made some stilted conversation. Stilted, because the him who was almost a decade older didn’t know how to talk to her. Not anymore. After so long of not seeing her, after so long of trying to figure out the whys and hows… he didn’t know what to say to her.

Sometimes, he wondered if he had ever known how to talk to her. If he had ever known what to say.

He’d gone to school, afterwards. He hadn’t listened during classes, as he was prone to doing these days. He’d already gone through middle school and high school once before. He’d gotten involved with villainy at a young age. He was a career villain in the world of the mafia, a tactical genius in his own right within Millefiore’s ranks. There was hardly anything that middle school, or even high school, could teach him anymore at this point. At least anything that would be useful to him in the future he was imagining for himself.

He’d suffered through the jeers. The mocking. He had grown used to them during his first childhood, during his first round as a teenager. It was just background noise to him now.

He suffered through the pain. Because at the end of the school day, without fail, there was a beating waiting for him. Always. It was just a part of the normal school day for him. It wasn’t really that bad, though. The beatings ensured that he had a high pain tolerance.

That day, it was Bakugo. Bakugo himself had decided that enough was enough.

He suffered through the explosions. They stung, but hardly more than that. The pain he caused his body was nothing in comparison to the one he hid inside. The pain of losing his soulmate, of holding him as he died, the pain of _killing_ his own soulmate… The pain of the betrayal, the pain of being used like a pawn by someone he had trusted… Bakugo could never cause pain that came even close to the pain he was feeling due to the actions of the future him and others. Bakugo could _never_ do anything to him that would cause so much pain.

But it didn’t matter. His body could be destroyed. He didn’t care about it. If he never met Hawks, in this life… then that was fine.

He was better off without a soulmate, anyways. Izuku wouldn’t wish himself as the soulmate of even his worst enemy.

He had thought it was fine.

But it wasn’t.

The next thing he knew, he was reaching out. With his hand, he was reaching out for Bakugo. For his _skin_.

Once he realized what he was about to do, he had frozen. To his surprise, Bakugo, too, had been frozen. His eyes wide, in horror… as though he knew what was about to happen.

Izuku supposed it was possible. Bakugo’s instincts had always been very strong… so maybe that explained it. Maybe there was a very simple explanation to Bakugo hating him. Maybe the explanation to why Bakugo rejected him, over and over again, why he beat him up, over and over again, was very simple.

Maybe Bakugo just simply knew, in his very being, that Izuku’s quirk would kill him.

Maybe he had always known. Since they were 5 years old, and Izuku was declared quirkless… Maybe Bakugo had always known that Izuku was a monster in human disguise.

… It would explain a few things.

Bakugo didn’t let the moment continue, though. Within a few seconds of them both freezing, just staring at each other in horror, he was moving again. Izuku had been thrown to the ground, the explosion sent his way just a bit too powerful to be normal. Izuku knew it the moment it hit him – this wasn’t Bakugo just playing around, like usually. This was him genuinely fearing something.

Fearing Izuku.

He supposed he had every right to. Because he was dangerous.

He wasn’t exactly sure what happened next. All he knew that for a moment, everything stopped. He could vaguely hear a voice, sounding familiar, shouting something. But the words missed him.

Instead, he laid there, on the ground, thinking.

Everything had been fine. Since he traveled through time, he hadn’t had any problems with his quirk.

Then again… he supposed he never had had any problems, before he knew it existed.

It was the way it had been, in the beginning. Because Izuku had no clue how long he had had his quirk. All he knew was that he had probably had it since his early childhood. He just hadn’t realized it until he was already 18 years old.

Everything had always been fine. Up until he knew it existed. It was only after he knew of its existence that controlling it had become… hard. Difficult. Nearly impossible.

It was one of the main reasons he had to resort to falling into villainy. Because every time he had touched someone, he had started sucking out their Flames, at an alarming rate. He had become a danger to everyone around him.

Controlling his quirk subconsciously, when he didn’t know about it, was easy. But consciously, while knowing it existed? That was the hard part.

A shadow fell over him.

“Are you okay?”

He knew that voice.

Staring up at that spiky white hair and light purple eyes, he had to wonder why that never crossed his mind. The thought that Byakuran was, of course, somehow involved in this whole time travel business. Now that the man, no, boy, was standing right in front of him, it only made sense. _Of course_ he was somehow involved in this mess. It only made sense.

Hawaii. Zakuro had lived his whole life there, until Byakuran arrived and plucked him from his life, from his peaceful life.

China. That’s where Kikyo had lived his whole life. Where he had gone to school and work, until Byakuran had come and offered him a job that treated him… well. It was _supposed_ to treat him better than the last one.

Australia. Daisy was there. He had been born there… and spent who knows how long in a mental ward.

South Africa. Izuku didn’t know how Torikabuto had found himself there, of all places… but it made sense that he would be the one who was there.

Italy. Because that’s where Byakuran was. At least, Izuku had never heard of him growing up anywhere else. As far as he knew, Byakuran was Italian, as fully as one could be, these days.

Japan. Because that’s where Izuku and Bluebell were. Where they had grown up.

“… Why are you here?”

Byakuran tilted his head, just a little. For a moment, he just stared down at Izuku. But then, surprisingly, he sat down next to him on the ground, facing him. Comfortably, cross-legged, like he thought they might stay there for a while.

Izuku doubted he would get up anytime soon. His body was in pain, due to those explosions, especially the last few ones that were amplified, meant to get rid of him for good… and there was a hole inside him. A hole that he refused to fill.

There was no way he would be able to get up for a while. He could barely turn his head to stare at Byakuran. They stared at each other, and he tried to read him. Tried to look past the many layers, for a hint of what the other was thinking of.

He couldn’t.

Izuku, a boy hiding behind many, _many_ layers, a boy who had perfected the art of acting and making it seem like he wasn’t… couldn’t read Byakuran. He couldn’t see what the other really was. Couldn’t see his true self.

He never had been able to. It wasn’t until now that he realized it, though.

Byakuran had never let people get too close to him. He had never let them close enough for him to get hurt. The only one who had… had been Irie.

Irie had gotten so much closer to Byakuran than Izuku, or any of the other Funeral Wreaths had.

Izuku hated how that made him hate Irie, and not Byakuran.

“… Honestly? I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m here.” Byakuran suddenly spoke, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Izuku stared at him, blinking. He could hardly believe he was hearing such an admittance from the other. That there was something he didn’t know.

The him from that future… That Izuku would never have believed it. The Byakuran from there would have never admitted he didn’t know something, even when he didn’t.

“I… I don’t know how much you know. I don’t know how much the rest know.” Byakuran closed his eyes. “I… I think Kikyo knows the whole story, but the rest of you...”

Kikyo knew. He knew the whole story, whatever it was. That… wasn’t very surprising. Despite everything, Kikyo had always been the second-in-command. He always knew more than the rest of them did. He had been Byakuran’s most trusted man… and Izuku couldn’t blame him for that. Because Kikyo _was_ the most trustworthy of them.

“… I lost.” Izuku’s eyes widened. He gasped, silently, staring at his… old boss? What was Byakuran, even?

He didn’t sound like it bothered him. He admitted it with such relative ease… Izuku could hardly believe the person in front of him was actually Byakuran.

But it was. Spreading out his senses allowed Izuku to taste his Flames… and that was Byakuran. It was Byakuran… but it wasn’t the same.

Something was different. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. But the taste of them… it was just slightly different. Enough to throw him off, completely.

“I lost to Tsuna.” Byakuran continued. “To the little one. The Tsuna we knew made a plan, and he managed to send all of their younger versions to our time. He won, and… and when he and his came back to this time, they… Vongola and Arcobaleno created a miracle.”

Izuku had heard the song before. The lullaby of the Tri-ni-sette. For Vongola and Arcobaleno, to have created a miracle, together… “… Is… Is that, why I… the memories…?”

Byakuran nodded. “All of us. Everyone who was involved, back then. Us, Vongola… Giglio Nero...”

Izuku had heard of Yuni. He hadn’t really seen her. Only once or twice, he’d caught sight of her. He had, after all, been caged in Vendicare for a good portion of the last few years. After that disaster of a mission…

A shiver ran through him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he bit his lower lip. The skin broke easily, too easily, and he tasted blood on his tongue. But that was fine. The pain grounded him. It reminded him of what was _now_ , and just what was a _what if_.

Hawks was _alive_.

He was fine.

A hand was placed onto his cheek.

Before he could even process the sheer _power_ radiating from that hand, his eyelids flew open. His gaze was immediately settled onto Byakuran. He looked at him from his perch, reaching over to him… smiling sadly.

“Take as much as you want. As you need.” He ran his thump over his cheek. Gently, almost like a… Izuku didn’t know. It was so long, since anyone had touched him gently. Since someone had treated him as anything more than a punching bag, or delicate glass, or, or… or a prisoner… or a battlehardened warrior… or a predator that had been pushed into a corner… or… or a… a tamed beast, a prize to show off to other villains, because _Byakuran_ held onto his leash.

He couldn’t remember Byakuran ever touching him like this. It had… He had always treated him like a beast, a beast he had managed to tame… like he was a prize. Dangerous, yet… yet like a lapdog, at the same time.

This was… new.

Just like the taste of his Flames was new. Like this, with their skin touching… with Byakuran’s Flames seeping into him… he could taste it better than ever.

Byakuran had never given him his Flames. Not even when he found out about his quirk. Not even when he had most needed them.

Byakuran didn’t _give_ his Flames to Izuku.

“… If it’s what you want… take all of it.”

This… Something wasn’t right. Something was different.

This wasn’t _Byakuran_.

This wasn’t the man who had sent Izuku to destroy Japan’s hero population, knowing that he’d end up killing Hawks. This wasn’t the man who had smiled sharply at Izuku and clasped his hand, forcefully dragging him to the world of villains without asking for his opinion.

Something wasn’t right.

The Flames that seeped into him through their skin contact, their taste… it was all wrong.

Izuku tried to stop it. He blinked several times, trying to get a grip of his quirk. Trying to figure out how to stop himself from sucking the life out of people. Because that’s what Flames were. They were your very life force. And Izuku’s whole being, his very quirk, was built on stealing other people’s lives from them.

He tried to stop it. Tried to get a hold of his quirk.

But he _couldn’t_. Just like he had never been able to, before. It was why he had always hid from others. Why he had been so dangerous.

Because he couldn’t _control_ his quirk.

Izuku choked on a sob. “Stop.”

“You know you want it. You _need_ it.” Byakuran shook his head, proving he knew him better than Izuku thought he did. Proving that he hadn’t just chosen Izuku on a whim, that he had observed him to the point that he _knew_ Izuku. “Take it. It’s… the least that I can do. For everything I put you through.”

He sobbed. “Stop!”

Izuku’s life had always been hell on Earth. Since he was misdiagnosed, since people turned against him for seemingly not having a quirk. No one had expected him to live into adulthood. Everyone, even his mother, had thought that he’d die young. Whether he killed himself, or someone else did, didn’t matter – he had been destined to die young.

Then he’d gotten his quirk. Or, rather, he had accidentally discovered it, after a particularly bad beating. Finding out, at age 18, that he had always had a quirk, that he’d always been using it, passively, just enough to stay alive… using it consciously for the first time…

The thing with his quirk was that even after years, he had no clue how to _turn it off_.

As just barely 19 years old, he had floundered, uselessly, trying to figure out how to go on about his life with the new discovery of a quirk. Trying to figure out how to survive. How to not get caught for what he did.

Byakuran had waltzed into his life at that time. He had found him, and looked at him, and seen… something. Something precious. Something worth protecting, something worth holding onto. Something _worthy_.

No one had ever seen anything in Izuku. And now, considerably more level-headed than before… he knew he had only agreed with Byakuran because no one else saw anything in him. Because no one else had bothered to so much as look at him after hearing that he was quirkless.

By the time someone had… he had been in so deep in Byakuran’s web that there was no escape.

That mission… it had broken him. It had broken him in ways that most people couldn’t imagine. Only someone else, who had killed their own soulmate, could understand that feeling. The breaking of your very core. Izuku knew there were others. He’d heard of it, during his time with Byakuran. Of the trend in the villain world. Soulmate Killings, they were called. Villains killing their soulmate, so that enemies couldn’t go for them. So that they would be safe from the villain’s enemies.

But having done that… Izuku couldn’t understand how those villain could even _function_ afterwards.

Byakuran… his appearance in his life had changed everything. It had changed things for the worse. His life had become a different kind of hell than it had been before.

But he had still seen _something_ in Izuku. Even when he had been a downright bastard, he’d seen something worthy in Izuku. Even _now_ , he was…

Byakuran was a downright bastard. There was no question about it.

But Izuku didn’t want him to _die_.

“Stop...” He whimpered. “Please, just stop. Stop!”

“Whatever fate you decide for me… I deserve it.” Byakuran closed his eyes. He hung his head, but from his angle, Izuku could still see the small smile on his lips. The sad smile. Accepting of his fate… and ashamed. Ashamed of what he had done, ashamed of the things he _could_ do. “Without me… You could be happy. With your soulmate.”

“I couldn’t.” He kept trying to turn it off. But he just couldn’t figure out how.

It was a sweet thought. That he could be happy, with Hawks. With his soulmate.

But Izuku knew it couldn’t happen. He couldn’t be happy with Hawks. Especially not if the price was this.

Not if the price was his Sky.

“I couldn’t be happy with him. I wouldn’t be _alive_ without you. Just stop!” Izuku sobbed. “Please! Byakuran!”

The smile he was rewarded was so, _so_ sad. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byakuran wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm one of those people who were using Ground Zero in their writing before Dynamight was revealed and it feels so weird to use now that I'm used to using Ground Zero.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

The ceiling was white.

That was the first thing Byakuran noticed as he woke up. He stared up at it, blinking a few times, trying to get his brain working. He… What ceiling was that?

It wasn’t familiar. At least, as he tried looking through his memory, he couldn’t recognize it. Not from his… from his current life, and not from his… past? Future?

God, life had only become confusing after the whole Future Incident. Not to say that it had all been bad, though. Because at least now, Byakuran… he could actually think, again. Before he got his memories… he couldn’t remember when he’d last been able to think. Straight, at least. Every time he had tried, his thoughts had become… jumbled. Like there were hundreds of people in his head, all shouting at the same time, giving their opinion about every single thing he thought of. Like he… wasn’t him, but a combination of people. A combination of people who all had grudges against different people and who wanted to hurt others and…

There had been those who had been good. But they were so few, that he had forgotten they existed. They had become insignificant.

They weren’t there anymore. But neither were the others, the ones who kept telling him to find a way to hurt All for One, to find a way to hurt Sawada Iemitsu, Reborn, Xanxus, Vongola Nono, Dynamight, Stain… Hawks…

They were all gone. And it was just Byakuran, with his own thoughts. Just him, and his thoughts, actually straight and not jumbled.

At first, it had been… weird. Horrible, even.

But he’d gotten used to it.

Now, it was just amazing that he could… think. By himself. Without anyone else giving their opinion about his _thoughts_.

Those thoughts just brought him back to the problem at hand, though. His current whereabouts.

Feeling around and looking around himself, he came to the realization that he was lying on a couch in an unfamiliar house. Or an apartment, from the look of things. The living room was nicely furnished, with a TV on the other end of the room, but it was also quite clear that whoever lived there wasn’t exactly rich. If Byakuran had to guess, he’d say they were mid-class at best. Probably not even that, though.

Slowly, he pushed himself up, to get a better look around himself. From his laying position he could see the sliding door leading to the balcony outside, and the coffee table in front of the couch, obviously. Aside from that, though, he could hardly see much more.

Even though he had moved slowly, vertigo hit him, _hard_. Steadying himself with a hand on the back of the couch kept him upright, but it didn’t stop him from feeling lightheaded. Trying to keep the room from spinning around him, he closed his eyes, mentally cursing as it almost made the world spin faster. Quickly trying to figure out why everything was spinning, he felt for his core.

There was a hole there. A hole that was slowly filling, and with it, gradually taking away the vertigo and light-headedness.

It wasn’t a hole he was familiar with. However, he did know what it was. A hole in his Will. In his very life force itself.

Opening his eyes and surrendering himself to his fate to watch the world spin for some time longer, he frowned. How had he ended up… here, wherever it was? How had he lost consciousness?

He thought back to what had happened, after… after everything. Since he got his memories of what happened in the future.

He was in Japan. Of course he was. Where else would he be, except Japan?

He remembered hearing whispers of an inheritance ceremony. He had heard of what had happened to Yamamoto. He had… gone over to Namimori, he remembered. To do what he could, to save him from the fate that some asshole had decided for him. To help, in what little ways he could. Because… Because Yamamoto was one of Tsuna’s, and to be one of Tsuna’s meant…

He swallowed thickly. His gaze turned from the room around him to his left thigh, where, under his jeans, his soulmate mark was. A white orchid, in flames. Burning. A soulmate mark that Byakuran knew, for a fact, to be etched on Tsuna’s skin on his left thigh. In the same exact spot where his soulmate mark was, too.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was his soulmate.

Byakuran had done so many things wrong in his life. He had made his Lightning kill his soulmate. He had watched his own soulmate die in front of him. Fuck, he had made his soulmate kill him.

He adored Tsuna. Everything Tsuna did… it was amazing. Even if Tsuna did the wrong thing, Byakuran knew he could never find any faults in him. He _adored_ him.

Yamamoto was one of Tsuna’s. And Byakuran… he couldn’t stand to see Tsuna sad. Any sadder than he already was, anyways. He had to do everything he could, to make sure his Guardians stayed safe and sound.

But he couldn’t show himself. He couldn’t let Tsuna know that _he_ was his soulmate.

It would break him.

It had broken Izuku.

Izuku.

Byakuran’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered. Everything. He had… After healing Yamamoto, he had made his way over to Musutafu. He could feel it, in the air, in his bones. Something big was going to happen, soon. It was like the very air was charged, like the Earth was dragging his bones more than before. Something was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon. A battle was in the horizon, he could tell. His blood was boiling, and distantly, if he really, really looked for them, he could hear his parallel selves screaming at him, warning him, telling him to gather his forces. Gather his men.

Though he knew that Tsuna couldn’t know… He knew that he could feel it, too. The charge in the air was too obvious. It danced across Byakuran’s skin, like a constant electric current. Something was happening, soon. He could feel it, and he could bet Tsuna could, too.

His parallel selves told him to gather his forces. Whatever the new threat was, they would need all the power available. They couldn’t hope to beat this new enemy without everyone. Whoever they were, they were something far worse than anything they’d seen before. Even Millefiore, Byakuran from that future never meant to happen… even he couldn’t be as bad as whatever was coming.

Tsuna wouldn’t be able to handle it alone. He would try, but Byakuran could tell that he wouldn’t be able to. They needed everyone… and even then, he wasn’t sure they would be enough.

He had come to gather his forces. He had come to Musutafu, to see if he could be of any help. If he could gather his forces… his men.

He had found Izuku.

The scene he had found wasn’t… He had known that Izuku used to get beaten up, by people. Everyone assumed him quirkless. He knew that. He knew that quirkless people got beaten up. That other people simply didn’t care for them, didn’t like them. Simply because they didn’t have quirks. He had always known that… but he had never really realized what that meant. He had never realized just how _bad_ it had been, for Izuku. He hadn’t cared enough, before, to think of what that meant. He hadn’t cared about a past that meant nothing to him next to their present and future.

Izuku had been beaten up. He was being beaten up when Byakuran had found him. He had been reaching out, with his hand, for his assailant’s face. Seeking skin-to-skin contact, no doubt. Seeking to use his quirk… the quirk he was beyond terrified of using. He’d always feared his quirk… feared the power he held within himself. He had always feared that endless pit inside his core that just wanted more and more of other people’s life force, to the point that it threatened to drown him.

Then again… when he had caught sight of the person who was beating him up, it had made some sense. Because despite the fact that Byakuran had only seen him a few times, he could never forget the face of _Dynamight_.

Or, well. His name was… Bakugo Katsuki, if he remembered right. He _could_ become Dynamight… if he lived that long.

Byakuran didn’t want to let him live that long.

It wouldn’t really change anything. Dynamight living long enough to become a hero hadn’t really mattered the last time around.

Byakuran just didn’t like him.

Last time around, it had been rather tragic. Cardiac arrest leading to death at the age of 20, going peacefully in his sleep. While he should have been at the peak of his strength, at the best fitnesse possible… when he should have been at his healthiest…

Dynamight had been used, for the next few years leading to the final battle between Millefiore and Vongola, as a warning example. For young hero wannabes, to listen to their bodies. What autopsy had been able to figure out, was that his body had been pushed too far. Even while he hadn’t had any underlying issues… he’d pushed himself too far one too many times. Leading to his heart just simply giving out on him.

So the autopsy claimed. But it wasn’t like they could ever have figured out what the real cause of death was. Not without an expert, anyways. Even then, a death caused by Izuku’s quirk was hardly something that could be proven.

Only Byakuran and Izuku had ever known how Dynamight died. And only Byakuran knew that Izuku never regretted killing him.

Before, it had been amusing.

But in that moment, seeing Dynamight beating Izuku up like that, with the scent of blood and nitroglycerin in the air… it had made him see _red_.

He had wanted to attack them. He almost had. But he had forced himself to calm down, reminding himself that he could get revenge later. Because at that moment, it hadn’t been what was important. No, what had been important had been _Izuku_.

Getting them to leave had been easy. Way too easy. A simple threat of calling for a hero had sent Dynamight and his followers running. At the very least they all understood that assaulting a person was a crime… but they didn’t _care enough_ , because if they did, Izuku wouldn’t have gotten hurt at all. He never would have been harmed, at all.

He had had every intention to gather forces in preparation to what was coming. But now, thinking of what had happened, he remembered sitting down and… accepting whatever fate Izuku chose for him. He’d willingly given up his Will, for Izuku’s sake, _to_ Izuku. By gods, had he _needed_ it. But still… the realization made him pause briefly.

The realization that he didn’t regret it made him pause for another moment.

He remembered blacking out. He remembered Izuku sobbing and telling him to just stop. Beyond that, though… there was nothing.

Slowly, Byakuran took another look around himself, at the living room he was in. Where was he?

There was a picture on the wall. Looking at it, he was given an answer.

In the picture, there were two people. A woman, and a little boy. She looked only vaguely familiar, in a way that a friend’s parent you had never seen looked like. Similar enough to someone you knew, who you were very familiar with, but just different enough to not recognize them.

But the boy… he recognized him. He recognized Izuku, even if he was considerably younger in the picture than he had ever seen him, before. With a grin as wide as his face and eyes shining with hopes and dreams… a look he had never seen on Izuku’s face before… There was something charming about it. About that childish, naïve adoration in that little boy’s face.

He stared at it, until he heard rustling from the kitchen. Until he heard footsteps leading to the living room. Only after they stopped did he turn to see Izuku standing there, blinking down at him. As though he was surprised to see him sitting there, on his couch.

Byakuran blinked right back.

He… was alive?

Izuku had let him live?

No. He hadn’t just let him live. He had let him live… and then he had brought him to his apartment. To recover?

Why?

“Byakuran!” It was like some sort of switch had been flipped over. Izuku sprung forward, towards the couch. He stopped just a few steps away from it and Byakuran, his hands hovering. Like he wasn’t quite sure where to put them. Like he was unsure of touching him.

As long as Byakuran could remember, Izuku had avoided all kinds of touches at all cost. He’d hidden himself away if it was necessary, just to make sure others didn’t touch him.

Unless it was an enemy. Then, Izuku had all but _craved_ for touch.

“… Izuku.” He hardly had any right to call him that. But it was the only name he knew. Izuku had… Izuku had always been Izuku. His last name had been mentioned, somewhere, once, he knew that, but… it had never been used. Because Izuku had never wanted to be associated with that, with his parents. For some reason. Byakuran didn’t know the details of that, but he was _pretty_ sure Izuku’s mother hadn’t been abusive, or anything. Maybe it was just the knowledge of who his father was that made him disgusted by the mere name.

Regardless, though. Byakuran couldn’t remember his last name. The only name he knew was Izuku… and Ghost.

“Are you okay?” Izuku glanced over his shoulder, towards the kitchen. Byakuran could hear noise from that direction, indicating that there was someone else in the apartment with them. Izuku’s mother, maybe? “I… I didn’t know where else to bring you. I didn’t think the hospital was a good place, considering… well, everything?”

Nothing made any sense. “Why am I… alive?”

Izuku grimaced.

Byakuran stared up at him expectantly.

Izuku sighed. Quietly, he spoke. Whispering… not wanting their companion to hear him. “I… You’re right. You made my life bad. But. It was better than it used to be. And… And no matter what… Regardless of what you did… I don’t want you to die.”

Swallowing thickly, Byakuran whispered. “… I’d deserve it.”

“Maybe.” At least Izuku admitted that much. “But you’re my Sky.”

Byakuran gasped.

A Sky claiming that they had Elements, that they were a specific Element’s Sky… It was different. It was different for outsiders to point out that a specific Sky was a specific Element’s Sky. It was so, _so_ different, from an Element genuinely claiming that a Sky was theirs. For Izuku to claim, that _Byakuran_ , of all people, was his Sky… that was…

Without even realizing it, tears slid down Byakuran’s cheeks. He covered his eyes with his hand as a sob tore through his throat. “I… I don’t deserve it. I… I _hurt_ you.”

“Everyone has.” To know that to be true made Byakuran’s heart break, just a tiny bit. That Izuku was so used to being hurt by everyone around him… “You hurt me less than most.”

Even if that _had_ been true, it didn’t make anything _right_. “Your soulmate...”

“I can’t see him.”

Blinking the tears away from his eyes from the sheer shock and confusion, he let his hand slip down. He turned to Izuku, licking his lips. “… What…?”

Izuku was staring down at the floor. A small frown was on his face, and he was biting his lower lip. “I… I can’t. Not right now. Not with my… well. Being like this.”

He vaguely showed off his hands. And Byakuran understood.

His quirk.

Right.

How was Byakuran alive?

“… You controlled it.” There was no other way. Nothing else made any sense, whatsoever. If Izuku hadn’t managed to control his quirk… then Byakuran should be dead. “You can… You can control it, now.”

“Not enough.” Izuku frowned. Slowly, he raised his head to look at him. “And… I can’t see him. I don’t trust myself to see him, at least not yet. What I _do_ trust is that you won’t let me destroy my life all over again.”

An Element… trusting their Sky.

Byakuran gasped. He felt like he could start crying, right then and there.

“I _could_ kill you.” Izuku admitted. “But… I don’t want to.”

Oh, fuck that.

Byakuran cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku and Byakuran talk about important business, this time preferably without Inko within hearing range.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have much to say, but I wanted to thank everyone who leaves kudos and comments on this! So, thank you guys!

The following dinner in the Midoriya household was awkward, to say the least. Inko, as Izuku had lately started calling her in his head, didn’t know he had friends and thus, she was a little wary of Byakuran and his sudden appearance. That, and she had heard them mention something about dying and killing, despite their attempts to be quiet enough during their conversation. As such, Izuku was left to explain that Byakuran was _dramatic_ to hide the fact that they had memories from the future and that they were actually villains. That, added with the tiny bit of floundering Byakuran had done that only Izuku noticed, when it came to how to address Inko… It had been awkward.

But it was over. Now, Izuku was sitting on his bed. Byakuran was seated on the chair in front of the desk. They were both listening, completely silent, as Inko bustled around in the kitchen. They were just outside of her hearing range, but that didn’t mean they weren’t wary. Especially after she heard them in the living room. They both had their senses spreading out, making sure that she didn’t get too close.

The following conversation _had_ to be kept out of her ears. For all that she was married to a villain, for all that _Izuku_ was already classified as a villain… Midoriya Inko was and always would be a civilian, in the end.

Izuku had been to Vendicare once before. He had no intention of repeating that experience.

“So...” Eventually, Izuku licked his lips. He looked over at Byakuran. “What now?”

Byakuran was staring forward, out of the window. It was almost like he wasn’t even staring at anything, just into the distance… his gaze not actually seeing anything. “… Something is coming.”

Izuku tensed up. Electricity, unlike his Flames, played on his skin. “… Something is coming?”

“I can feel it in my blood. In my bones. In my skin. I bet Tsuna can, too.” Byakuran turned away from the window and to his hands that were rested on the desk. “… Something big. Something dangerous.”

Big. Dangerous.

Suddenly, it made sense. It made sense why Byakuran was _here_ , why he’d suddenly appeared in front of Izuku from out of owhere. After avoiding him like a plague since their memories returned… it made sense that he was here, all of a sudden. “You’re gathering allies.”

“Tsuna has his own trouble to deal with, right now.” Byakuran swallowed. “Another enemy. It has nothing to do with us, right now. But what’s coming… it’ll involve us, too.”

Izuku could feel it, too. He hadn’t been able to, before. Or maybe he had, but he just hadn’t been able to determine what it was.

The air itself felt different from before. Like it was tense. Like there was an electric current, waiting to discharge. Waiting for the right moment.

It felt like the Earth itself was tensing in anticipation. Waiting for… _something_.

“You don’t have to...”

“Don’t.” Izuku shook his head. He bit his lips before turning to look up at Byakuran. “Don’t even think about it. You’re my Sky – I’ll follow you to the ends of the Earth.”

Byakuran visibly swallowed at that. Whether that was because Izuku was, once again, verbally claiming him, or because of his promise to follow him to death if he had to… well. Izuku didn’t know which caused the reaction.

“So?” He decided to bring the conversation back to where it had begun. “What do we do next?”

Byakuran bit his lip. Briefly, he closed his eyes and shook his head. By the time his eyes opened, he had straightened up, just a little bit. His expression became more serious, his eyes narrowing just a little. His breathing changed, too. Becoming calmer… deeper…

Izuku was used to Byakuran being like this. He was actually more used to this version of him, than he was to the version of him he’d been seeing all day. His Flames still tasted the same they had all day… but the change made Izuku somewhat relieved. Relieved to see that Byakuran hadn’t _completely_ changed. He was still a downright bastard… but now, he apparently also cared. About him. About _them_.

Still. That didn’t mean he should try to fuck with Byakuran in boss-mode.

“First things first, we need to gather the rest of the Funeral Wreaths. The faster, the better. From there…” Byakuran frowned. “I’m not exactly sure. But I know we won’t have too much time to figure out our next move. Whatever is coming, it’s coming _fast_.”

The rest of the Funeral Wreaths. Izuku bit the corner of his lip, briefly, before opening his mouth. “Bluebell is in Japan, too, right?”

“She’s right here in Musutafu.” Byakuran nodded, his gaze intense. But then, something happened. His expression fell… and he looked almost ashamed. “I… I don’t remember her real name. But I remember she was the youngest child of a hero family.”

Ouch.

Then again, Izuku knew Byakuran didn’t know his last name, either. The floundering during dinner had made that clear enough. He had had no clue what to call Inko, when he couldn’t remember their last name. There had never been any reason for him to remember the name Midoriya, because Izuku had hated it. Hated the name that tied him to Midoriya Hisashi.

It was nothing short of a miracle that he remembered Izuku’s actual name. But that was only because Izuku had refused to become Ghost, too. He had allowed himself to be called that as a code name, as a villain name… but he had refused to _become_ Ghost.

That was unlike any of the other Funeral Wreaths. The others… they had taken the names Byakuran had given them, and embraced them. They had become their code names.

It was for this reason that Izuku didn’t know their real names, either. All he knew were the little tidbits of information they had mentioned about their lives before Byakuran.

There wasn’t a lot of information about any of them, to be honest.

Though, Izuku did know that Bluebell was a Legacy. Or, a child in a family where one or both parents were or had been heroes. He knew that her brother had also been a hero. Something had happened during Izuku’s high school years that had left her brother paralyzed from the waist down. He had later died saving Bluebell’s life during a car accident, which had left her paralyzed from the waist down until Byakuran had healed her.

A Legacy, huh… “Leave finding Bluebell to me.”

“Izuku?” Byakuran looked at him with a frown. Blinking in confusion.

Izuku smirked. “I’ve only ever stalked heroes before… so this will be a new experience.”

For a moment, Byakuran just stared at him. No doubt trying to process what he had said and understand what, exactly, he meant. Once he did, his frown deepened. “Are you sure? Legacies are considerably more protected than the actual heroes are.”

“I mean, sure, it might take a while.” It had been a while since Izuku had actually done any of his usual stalking, after all. But his memories of his life as 14 years old were thankfully vivid in his mind, so he actually remembered all the steps he had taken when new heroes had emerged that he wanted to know about. When an interesting hero had emerged, he had found everything about them – quirk, agency, patrol routes, hobbies, address… _everything_. The information he had gathered had always been for his own enjoyment, never for anything nefarious. But it didn’t stop the fact that on the notebooks on the shelves around his room, there were the addresses and personal phone numbers of _many_ heroes.

He had stopped when he was around 14 years old. He had completely stopped his obsession with heroes when he was 18 years old. But before that… he had been absolutely obsessed with heroes. He wasn’t even sure why he had to find out everything about them – he just _had_ to.

Maybe it had been his quirk talking. His quirk, demanding him to suck out their life force… and his unwillingness to actually kill them had led to him understanding that hunger inside him to be about knowing everything about them.

He’d really managed to fool himself, hadn’t he.

Now, it would be different. Legacies were considerably more protected than heroes were. Heroes had to be in the public eye constantly, after all. It wasn’t _that_ unusual that someone could find information about them. Their addresses were usually fairly easy to find. Their personal phone numbers were maybe the hardest thing to find, but even those were fairly easy to find. To begin with, most limelight heroes’ information was public. Not addresses and phone number, sure, but a lot of the other information.

Legacies weren’t like that. For a good reason, of course – any hero would want to keep their family safe. In fact, they went to incredible lengths to keep their families hidden from the public eye, especially when it came to the little ones. The youngest Legacies were so well protected that sometimes, no one even knew they existed until they were in their teens and already in high school.

It would make his job harder. A decade or so into the future, Bluebell had been a teenager. She was still a little girl, in this time.

However. As well protected as Legacies were… Anyone with two braincells capable of doing a bit of research could figure out at least one way to identify them. “But there’s actually a few ways to identify Legacies. For one, the schools they go to.”

“The schools?” Byakuran blinked. Izuku almost felt shocked that he didn’t know, but then his eyes widened in realization. He nodded a few times, a thoughtful look on his face. “Right, of course… Some schools only accept Legacies.”

“Bluebell used to go to Somei, right?” Izuku remembered it being mentioned, very briefly, at some point. It was at times like this, that he was glad for having such a good memory.

Bluebell hadn’t gone to middle school for very long, though. The incident where she was left paralyzed happened very soon after her first year in middle school began. Afterwards, she had been stuck in the hospital until Byakuran had whisked her away later that very same year. She’d been the last of them to join… and she’d been the youngest of them. Youngest by far.

“Not many know about it, but Somei Private Academy is actually a Legacy Academy.” Izuku smiled, looking at Byakuran. “Like you said, they only accept Legacies.”

Byakuran frowned. “How do you know? Did Bluebell mention it at some point?”

“No. I’ve checked their website in the past.” It was almost scary how vivid his memory of his early teenage years was. A decade into the future, he could barely remember anything of his life before Byakuran. Now, though, there was a clarity to his memories from middle school that he hated.

There was a _reason_ why he had forgotten. It wasn’t because anyone had made him, either. No, he had _wanted_ to forget.

“They’ve worded their acceptance requirements very vaguely, but by reading between the lines, it’s clear they only accept Legacies.”

“Huh.” Byakuran blinked. He was silent for a moment, thinking. “Doesn’t Somey Academy also have…?”

Izuku smirked. He nodded in confirmation. “A kindergarten and elementary school divisions. They don’t have a high school division because most students go to schools with hero courses, hence they have better security there. The way the school works is that students are elevated from one level to the next, without needing to apply.”

“Which means, if Bluebell went there for middle school, she likely went there for kindergarten and elementary school, too.”

Izuku nodded. “It won’t be exactly easy to figure out, still, but it’s a start. She should be around the age to be in elementary school, right?”

“Kindergarten.”

“Huh?” Izuku blinked.

Byakuran looked at him with something like sadness. “She was born in late April, so although she’s 6 years old, I think, she just missed the beginning of the school year.”

“… Oh.” Right. Bluebell was born in late April. She was just 6 years old.

… Fuck.

Was this just Vendicare fucking him up… or…

Byakuran didn’t say anything about it. Didn’t bring attention to his slip up. For that, Izuku was glad.

A bond that had only been in place for a few hours suddenly burst with feeling. Izuku closed his eyes, just breathing for a while as he basked in the reassuring feeling Byakuran fed him.

Once Izuku opened his eyes again, Byakuran spoke. “So, what we need to do is figure out who of the little girls in Somei currently is Bluebell.”

“That might be easier than you’d expect, actually.” Izuku glanced over towards the door. Though his senses were spread, he still made a conscious decision to search for Inko’s presence. He could admit that he was slightly nervous, having to discuss this here. He knew she was out of hearing range, but what they were talking of… it was _very_ illegal. “I mean, sure, getting the records is going to be a bit… hard, I guess. Depending on what the two of us can really do. But from there, it’s more about figuring out which little girl has a hero brother who was dead by the time we met her.”

“Two.”

“What?” Izuku blinked.

“Two.” Byakuran frowned. He didn’t look sad, like the last time Izuku made a mistake. Instead, he looked thoughtful… like he couldn’t quite remember it, either. “I remember that her parents said she had two older brothers. They were both dead.”

Izuku frowned. “… I can’t remember.”

“Something happened. Her oldest brother was paralyzed, and the younger one died a few weeks later.” Rather than bring any attention to it, Byakuran explained it. His frown kept deepening, though, almost like he was trying to figure out what _he_ was missing. “I think she stopped referring to the younger one as a brother after that. She was angry at him, or something. Never really got over it.”

Huh. Well, that would explain why she had never mentioned it. At least, not that Izuku could remember. “… Can’t say I don’t understand that.”

Byakuran snorted. “Blood family just is like that.”

Izuku paused at that. Tilting his head, he wondered. He was hesitant to ask, but he had to admit that he was curious. So, so curious.

Byakuran knew that, of course. He didn’t need to say anything. He was, after all, his Sky. “My quirk… Parallel Sight… It’s a mutation. You know about those, right? When a child gets a quirk that doesn’t resemble either parent’s… Mine is like that.”

Honestly? Izuku had figured as much. If anyone other than Byakuran had ever had anything that even so much as resembled Parallel Sight… the world would have known.

“The thing that doesn’t get a lot of attention is that kids who have mutations like that, is that they’re treated pretty terribly. Parents don’t know how to deal with kids who don’t have quirks like theirs.” Byakuran shrugged his shoulders. His eyes were closed, and his expression looked very serene. It felt… wrong. For him to admit something like that, with an expression like that… “In comparison, my older brother… He had a perfect quirk. A quirk that was a perfect mix of our parents’ quirks. My parents just didn’t know how to deal with me, so… they didn’t.”

Izuku paused. He frowned.

An older brother? Byakuran had a brother?

“Add to that the fact that I’m an albino… Well. Foster care system sucks.” Again, he just shrugged his shoulders, his expression serene. Like admitting something like that was easy, and… just another fact of life.

But Izuku’s attention went to his words.

Foster care. Byakuran had been in the foster care system.

In a weird way, though, that made sense. Izuku couldn’t remember Byakuran having any family to speak of. At least, he had never mentioned them. He had always stuck with his Famiglia, changing the subject if anyone tried to ask about his family.

Because he didn’t have any.

Except, a brother? “You have a brother?”

Byakuran opened his eyes. The expression that briefly crossed his face was… weird. It was almost unreadable, but Izuku could detect… something, underneath that mask. Bitterness and envy, sure… but more than that, there was sadness. Sadness, and regret. “I haven’t met him in this run, yet. He… was given away, so that he could have a better life, what with his perfect quirk, before I was born.”

Oh.

Byakuran wasn’t like how he’d been in that future never meant to happen. That much was clear from just how he stood. But this… this was just how Byakuran was. Blood ties were hardly anything to him. Just because he had a brother… that didn’t mean he had to care about him. If his brother didn’t make an effort to be with him, then Byakuran would hardly make the effort, either.

For some reason, a lot of Skies were like that.

“Right.” Izuku nodded. It wasn’t really his business. Byakuran was his Sky and he wanted to help him if he could, but… there were things he just couldn’t. This was one of those things. It wasn’t something he should butt in. Not without Byakuran coming to him first, at least. “So, Bluebell. After that?”

“Kikyo’s in China.” Byakuran leaned backwards on the chair, tilting his head back. He stared up at the ceiling, humming as he pursed his lips in thought. “Daisy should be in Australia. Zakuro is in Hawaii. Torikabuto is… somewhere. If we’re lucky, he’ll come to us, rathen than us going to him.”

“Please.” Izuku begged. He really, _really_ didn’t want to run around the world, hunting for Torikabuto. It could be _impossible_ to find the man. No one even knew how Byakuran had found him in the first place.

“We should make some concrete plans now. After we grab Bluebell, we’ll probably end up in trouble regardless.” Byakuran frowned. “Her family won’t let us just run.”

“Unless we snatch her and have her cooperation.” Izuku tilted his head to the side. “She might be able to buy us a day or two, if we’re lucky.”

“We should go to China first. It’s close, and once we get Kikyo on board, we have an adult with us. An adult and three kids is less suspicious than two teenagers and a kid.” Byakuran kept staring up at the ceiling. Like it held all the answers. “Plus, Kikyo has a level head. You and I are pretty good when it comes to planing, but fuck, we’re just 15 years old currently. Brain development and all that.”

Izuku didn’t hear the last part. “Wait, what?”

Byakuran raised his head, looking at him. “What?”

“You’re 15 years old?” Izuku gaped. “We’re the _same age_?!”

He blinked, tilting his head to the side. “Yeah? I was born in March, so I’m on my first year in high school, but year, we were born in the same year.”

Izuku gaped.

“I thought you knew this?”

“No, I did not know this!!” Izuku suddenly thrust his arm forward, pointing at him. “I thought you were a year older than me, at least!”

“Why?” Byakuran gave him a weird look. “I went to university with Sho-chan. We had same courses.”

“A lot of university students share lectures with other years, I didn’t know you guys were… Wait a minute. Irie is a year younger than we are, he’s just in his 2nd year in middle school! That doesn’t work!!”

“I didn’t get in on the first try.”

“Bullshit!”

“You’re right, I didn’t try that first time.”

Izuku buried his head in his hands, groaning loudly.

There was a sudden knock on the door. They both jumped and turned to it, wide-eyed.

“Boys? Is everything okay?” Inko’s voice came through.

“We’re fine!” Izuku spoke loudly, just shy of shouting, to make sure she heard him. All the while, though, he was staring at the door with wide eyes, his hand held over his chest. Trying to calm his racing heart.

As he heard Inko walk away, he turned to glare at Byakuran.

Byakuran just shrugged his shoulders with a smug smirk on his lips.

Bastard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!


	7. Chapter 7

She thought that everyone was being… too happy. Everyone. The adults, the other kids… everyone.

She was the youngest child and the only daughter of the prestigious Iida Family. They were known for being, well, a Legacy Family. She, and her two older brothers, were all Legacies, the children of heroes. Both of her parents were heroes. Even her grandfather was a hero, making her father a Legacy as well. Her oldest brother, Tensei, was a hero. Her other older brother, Tenya, was going to become a hero, too.

They were the epitome of a hero family. So many of them were heroes, or had been heroes. It was like they were just destined to be heroes, everyone of their blood.

She loved her family. She loved them like no other.

But she wasn’t happy. She couldn’t be happy, to be truthful. How could she be happy, when she remembered things no one else did?

She remembered having no ambition for heroics. She had always loved swimming, though, and had begged her parents to let her become a swimmer instead of a hero. They had agreed, eventually, after she had begged enough. Like the rest of the family, though, they had been supportive, of course. They had all shown up to all of her competitions. Tensei and Tenya made an effort to show up to her practices, too.

She remembered being 7 years old, watching the UA Sport Festival on TV, when her mother got a call. She remembered how the cheers for Tenya turned into tears for Tensei.

She remembered being 7 years old and Tensei being attacked by a monster disguised as a man. By a villain who went around, killing heroes. She remembered it… and she remembered how Tensei had gotten paralyzed. He had escaped with his life intact… but with his life ruined forever.

He was forever bound to a wheelchair, from then on.

Tenya, in a fit of rage, had gone after that villain. For what, she never found out. To get revenge, maybe? To right the wrong their family had been dealt? Whatever his intentions had been, though, it didn’t matter. What mattered, in the end, was that Tenya never made it out of the alley he had run into.

She had lost a brother that day. But not just in one way. Completely. He had died that day, physically… and as far as she was concerned, he had died as her brother, too. From that moment onwards, she had always insisted that she had ever only had one brother – Tensei. She hadn’t cared what anyone else had said about the matter. To her, only her one brother mattered.

Then the cruel world had decided to take him from her, too. It had taken him and left her in his wheelchair.

Her life had been hell.

Then, she met Byakuran.

She hadn’t liked him. At all. She had hated him, just like she had hated the whole world, at the time. But he had stuck by her. He’d followed her around, and he’d talked to her. He’d broken through her walls and showed her how beautiful the world still was, even without her family’s support. He had become her family, her new big brother.

He had showed her the world of superiority. Where even the likes of Stain, that monster disguised as a man, couldn’t oppose her. He’d taken her with him, and he’d given her a new, better family. Byakuran, Kikyo, Zakuro, Daisy, Torikabuto… _Izuku_.

She readily admitted that she didn’t really know Izuku. Honestly, as far as she knew, none of her fellow Funeral Wreaths really knew their Lightning companion. He had tended to avoid them, if at all possible. They’d spent some time together, sure, but compared to the time the rest of them spent together, they’d essentially spent no time at all with him. Beyond the very bare basics, they had no clue where he came from. They knew his first name, and his Flame type, but beyond that… they had no clue about who he was. All they really knew was what Byakuran had told them. A mention of his quirk, once, a quirk that was too deadly to be left to its own devices.

To her, Izuku was an enigma. An enigma that Byakuran had favored over the rest of them, just because he had been born with an incredible quirk. For as long as she could remember, her opinion of him had been bad, because he hadn’t even seemed to appreciate being favored. Not with how he had gone against a direct order, leading to him being sentenced to Vendicare.

After the final fight in the future, though… she understood, somewhat.

Because that _thing…_ that hadn’t been the Izuku she had grown to know. It hadn’t been the Izuku she had once thought she knew, at least somewhat.

Something had broken inside of Izuku. Something had broken, and they hadn’t been able to fix it. They hadn’t even noticed it, let alone tried to fix it. Instead, it had festered, broken him apart so completely. It had absolutely destroyed him during his stay in Vendicare.

He had killed them.

She could remember dying. She could remember looking at Izuku, no, _Ghost_ , right into those eyes that she remembered being warm, if anxious and terrified, but always trying to make an effort for her sake. She remembered staring into those eyes as he sucked out the last of her Flames, and she… she hadn’t seen anything. There hadn’t been _anything_ remotely familiar left. If there had been anything left at all, even.

He had killed them. They hadn’t been able to help him and fix him. They had allowed him to break to that point.

She couldn’t be happy. How could she? She remembered dying. She remembered Ghost sucking her Flames, and then her, in, and everything going dark. She knew he had distributed her life force to Byakuran, but that hardly made her any happier with any of it. No, it made her feel disgusted and violated.

He had _killed_ her.

That hadn’t been Izuku. He hadn’t been sane enough to be called by the name of that young man she had known, if only in passing. At that point, anything Byakuran told him to do was what he did. His breakdown, and the consequent years in Vendicare, had made him obedient. Byakuran’s word was the law to him… and so, at his order, he’d been willing to hurt anyone. Even the rest of them.

She hated it.

She just wanted to see him smile, again.

She remembered it. From back before everything had gone to hell. Back when they were all still living together, like a family. When Izuku had done everything in his power to avoid them all, even Byakuran to a point. How, if they ever did catch him, if he just _couldn’t_ avoid them, she remembered how he’d smile. There were so many smiles he would smile. Often times, they were terrified, but he always tried to smile for her sake. Reassuring, if a bit shaky.

But sometimes, he’d smile. He’d smile for real, and he’d even laugh, as the rest of them got up to something. He’d laugh alongside her at something dumb. He’d talk with Zakuro, about different kinds of training methods. He suggested different plans to Kikyo, and talked of the pros and cons of different plans. He’d appreciated Daisy’s drawings, and showed him some of his own. He’d had super mysterious conversations about quirks with Torikabuto. He had been the only one of them who had dared to _gamble_ with Byakuran.

He’d avoided them at all cost. But as she thought back to those times, he’d been just as much a part of their family as the rest of them. He’d been there for them, even when he was terrified of them, for one reason or another.

They hadn’t been there for him when he needed them.

She wanted to go back to those times. She always had, since that day when Izuku disobeyed a direct order. Not that she had realized until now. She’d always thought, had convinced herself, that she hated Izuku for being Byakuran’s favorite. But that wasn’t it.

She just wanted to go back. Back to that time when everything was fine.

She just wanted her _family_ back. Because that’s what they were.

She loved the Iidas… but in the end… none of them had ever cared about her. They had never been there for her, when she needed them. She had to beg on her knees to get her parents to let her do what she wanted. Tenya had ignored how she could have felt just to go after Stain on his own. Tensei had _died_ on her. Her parents had just dumped her at a hospital afterwards.

She loved them. But they had never cared about her.

They never would care about her.

Not like her real family did. Not like the Funeral Wreaths did. Not like Byakuran did. Not like _Millefiore_ did.

She just wanted her family back. The real one.

…

Deku didn’t come to school.

The day after that albino motherfucker stopped Katsuki from finally putting an end to it all, Deku didn’t come to school. Not that he was too surprised by that. He had, after all, beaten him up pretty bad. Maybe a bit too much, even. He hadn’t actually intended to kill him, or anything. He never tried to, not really.

But just before that albino motherfucker came shouting at them… something had happened.

Katsuki had never felt so terrified for his life. He had never felt like… like that was it. He was done for.

Deku didn’t even do anything. All he did was reach out for him. Like reaching for a helping hand… except that wasn’t it. He knew it wasn’t. And from the look on Deku’s face, he knew he had known it, too.

Katsuki had been terrified. He had been so terrified that he couldn’t remember anything between seeing Deku’s hand reaching for his face and hearing that albino motherfucker shouting at them. Threatening to call the heroes on them.

All Katsuki could remember from that time in-between was the need to _destroy_ Deku, before he could kill him.

He wasn’t really that surprised when Deku didn’t come to school the next day. He usually wasn’t bothered when he got beaten up, sure, but he didn’t usually beat him up quite so badly. So, him taking a day off? Katsuki wasn’t _that_ surprised.

What he was a bit surprised by was that the teachers didn’t seem to notice, at all. Or, well, not really.

Katsuki knew they noticed that Deku wasn’t there. He saw how they glanced at his seat, and took note that he wasn’t there.

But not once, while taking attendance, did they say his name. Not once did they actually call out for him, like they’d do for any other student. Even if they weren’t there, they still did ask. But not now that Deku wasn’t there.

It was a bit weird. But Katsuki ignored it. It was nothing to him, after all.

Deku didn’t come to school that day. Katsuki went home, and went on with his day.

Deku didn’t come to school the next day, either. Katsuki ignored it.

The third day Deku didn’t come to school, Katsuki started wondering if he’d actually hurt Deku worse than he intended. If he should start getting worried.

By the time a week had gone by, the students were starting to get a bit nervous, especially the ones who had been there when Katsuki had beat him up. The teachers, though… they seemed almost gleeful at the idea that Deku wouldn’t be at school. That he wouldn’t be _coming_ to school. They didn’t even bother checking if Deku was at school anymore, whether that be by glancing at his seat or by calling his name while taking attendance.

On the second week, Katsuki saw Deku. Once, from afar. He was out jogging late that evening, passing by Dagobah Beach. He saw, from afar, how Deku was talking. He originally thought he was talking to himself… but then he noticed the albino motherfucker sitting on top of one of the trash mountains. Talking right back to Deku.

He ran past. He didn’t care, after all. If someone was hanging out with Deku, then fuck, let them. If Deku found someone to hang around, well, good for fucking him. Katsuki didn’t give a fuck, as long as they stayed away from him.

On the day that marked the third week of Deku not being at school… he was on the news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's turn the clock back a little, shall we?

Izuku didn’t go to school the day after he met Byakuran again. Nor the day after that. Or the one afterwards.

At first, he worried that Inko might find out about it. That the school administration would call her, after he stopped going to school. After they didn’t hear why he wasn’t going to school. It would be what they would do for any other student. They would inform the guardians that their child wasn’t going to school, asking for a reason.

Izuku worried about that. Because for all that he didn’t really care for Inko, he knew that she would get worried. She’d ask about it. Why he wasn’t going to school. He left every morning, like he was, but he never actually went to school. She couldn’t know that, though, not without the school informing her and asking for a reason. If they did… she’d make a big deal about it. How he should go to school. Even though she, too, didn’t expect him to live long. Not when she was convinced that he was quirkless.

But after a few days, it became clear that they had no intention of calling. Izuku concluded, after a while, that they must be gleeful since he wasn’t going at all. That they were finally rid of the quirkless kid. It wasn’t like his teachers had ever really liked him, since it came out that he was quirkless. Since the diagnosis, he couldn’t remember a single adult liking him. Even back then… whenever he had gotten hurt, as a kid, by Bakugo, it had all been _his_ fault. He had been in the way, or something. Teachers didn’t like him. That was a fact he knew from back when he was a child.

Of course they would just be happy about him being gone. That shouldn’t surprise him at all, and honestly, it didn’t. When it came to that one quirkless kid, why would they bother doing the things they were supposed to? Why would they bother informing his guardian about him not going to school, when they could just… not? And be rid of him indefinitely?

So, he stopped worrying.

Instead, after days of planning and stalking later, he had a name. “Iida Tenshi.”

Byakuran blinked at him from his perch on top of the trash mountain. It was just one of the many on Dagobah Beach. According to Izuku’s memory, it used to be a beautiful place once upon a time. At some point, though, people had started throwing their garbage there. The sea currents were weird over at this part of the coastline, so they brought all of the trash that was thrown into the water back to the beach. That had only helped to accumulate the trash. At some point, everyone gave up trying to get the beach cleaned and just left it to rot.

It used to be a place where people gathered. But now, it was just a silent ghost beach. A silent ghost beach no one ever came to, meaning it was one of the most private places in public in the area. Just perfect for what they were doing.

“What?”

“Bluebell’s name.” Izuku held up his hand. On it was a paper, with all the information he could get on their little Rain. Name, age, medical records, school records… everything. “Iida Tenshi. Her oldest brother, Iida Tensei, turns 30 years old this year. He’s the hero Ingenium. The middle child is Iida Tenya, 15 years old. Aiming for UA and to become a hero like their parents, grandfather and Ingenium.”

Byakuran hummed. “Sounds about right. What happened to Tenya?”

“Honestly? I don’t really remember.” And didn’t that _bother_ him. He honestly couldn’t remember what led to Iida Tenya’s death. From the look of things, he had made it to UA. He could faintly remember the UA Sports Festival on his first year in high school, and seeing the boy there. The one with engines on his legs. He knew he had died soon after that… but how?

Izuku couldn’t remember. All he could remember was that he couldn’t remember him being involved with anything UA related after the Sports Festival. He couldn’t even remember seeing his name, even in passing, in the reports after the summer training camp for Bakugo’s class that year.

He couldn’t remember what happened to Iida Tenya. And the bothered him. “I really can’t remember. What I remember of my first year in high school, and the incidents UA was involved with… There was USJ, but that was too early into the year. Then there was the summer training camp, but by then, he was already dead, I think.”

Byakuran tilted his head to the side, just a little. He hummed thoughtfully. “So, he was going solo, probably. If UA had been involved, it would have been too big of a news. We would remember.”

“Probably.” It was the most likely answer. Back during Izuku’s early high school years, before he had found out about his quirk… he had still been a hero fanboy. That, plus he had still adored the ground Bakugo walked upon, for some reason. Due to those reasons, he had kept himself more up to date with anything that happened at UA than most did, especially with Bakugo’s class. For him to not remember what had happened… it just meant that UA highly likely hadn’t been involved as a whole.

For a moment, they were both silent. Izuku looked down at the paper in his hands. He studied the list of connections, grades, medical records, everything he had found. Trying to see if there was anything particular they should be wary of, that they should know of that they didn’t already know of.

Absently, while reading, he listened. He listened to the waves crashing onto the beach. He listened to the waves crashing against the garbage mountains. In the distance, he could hear seagulls croaking. If he listened for it, he could hear footsteps disappearing into the distance. A jogger, getting further away from them.

“What now?” Eventually, he turned to look at his… his what? Boss? Friend? Brother? What _were_ they? He still couldn’t figure it out. Byakuran was his Sky, but… aside from that, what _were_ they?

Byakuran hummed, staring off to the side. Watching something. What it was, Izuku didn’t know. He had a considerably better spot to look out for something, sitting on top of a mountain of trash, than Izuku, who was standing on the sandy ground. “What?”

“What’s next?” Izuku tilted his head. He tried to listen, to get an indication of what he was staring out for. But he couldn’t hear anything, aside from those footsteps that were already so far off in the distance that they simply couldn’t be what caused Byakuran to keep watch.

Not unless it was someone he knew, anyways.

“We grab Bluebell...” Izuku trailed off. “… And then what?”

“Kikyo in China.”

“Yeah, I get that. But _how_?”

They had early on come to the conclusion that to get things done faster, they’d delegate. Izuku was more than capable of identifying Bluebell and pinpointing her exact location on his own. That was what he was good at, after all. When so many of those skills now came from muscle memory, now that he was 14 years old again… it was easy. His body remembered these things, even if his mind hadn’t. And now, even his mind did.

Byakuran, on the other hand, had decided to take care of getting ready for their trip around the world. Because no matter what happened, they’d have to leave Japan as soon as possible after grabbing Bluebell. She was a Legacy. A Legacy going missing was going to spark a hunt for their heads, regardless of which Legacy it was. One from the Iida Family would send most heroes all over the country to help, considering their history. They must have some kind of debts to call in, or something.

The sooner they left the country after grabbing Bluebell, the better for them. The heroes would have less time to catch them. Knowing heroes as well as he did, Izuku could guess that they’d assume that they’d stay in Japan. They would assume Bluebell was taken for ransom, or something. They wouldn’t think to reach out to other countries for help in the search, let alone China.

Once they had Kikyo along for the ride, avoiding suspicion would be considerably easier. Two teenagers and a little girl were a lot more suspicious than two teenagers, a little girl and an adult man, after all. Granted, Kikyo would most likely not pass as their parent or anything. He wasn’t _that_ old. But he would be an adult with three kids with him, two of who were clearly old enough to stage an escape or somehow inform the authorities if they were held against their will.

That would help get them under the radar…

“We fly.”

Izuku blinked. “We don’t have Box Weapons.” Yet, anyways. He didn’t doubt that Byakuran was already trying to come up with ways to get them some. How they would end up getting them, especially in their money situation, he had no idea, but he supposed that was Byakuran’s problem to deal with. The main point was that they didn’t have any Box Weapons, and as long as they didn’t, well. Izuku and Bluebell couldn’t fly. “Planes are too risky.”

“Not if we take a plane to North Korea.”

Izuku frowned. To North Korea? “… I didn’t know there were any flights scheduled to North Korea?”

“Not ones open to the public.” Byakuran admitted. He finally turned back towards him. “But Nam Seong-gi has come for a visit and is scheduled to leave back in a few days.”

Nam Seong-gi. One of the highest ranking officials in North Korea in the current times. A man who had even been called the right-hand man of North Korea’s current president.

Izuku paled. A horrible idea crossed his head. “We are _not_ causing an international accident by hijacking the plane of a North Korean...”

“We aren’t hijacking it.” Byakuran cut him off with his promise. “He knows we’re coming.”

Izuku paused at that. Because… Because… There were _implications_ in that… “… Byakuran?”

The only answer he got was a hum.

“… What did you do?”

“… In my defense, the previous president of North Korea was in contact with All for One and the citizen were being used to harvest quirks.”

The very thought made Izuku mad. It made bile rise to his throat. It made him sick, to think, that someone had been in on something like that. That someone had genuinely known where that monster was hiding and they had _helped_ him.

But then, he concentrated on the words he had heard. On a particular phrase Byakuran had used.

The previous president. The _previous_ president.

“Byakuran, what did you do?” He could hear the alarm in his own voice. There was no way Byakuran could miss it.

Byakuran glanced down at him from his perch. He slowly raised his hand to scratch at his cheek awkwardly, looking sheepish. At the very least he had the decency for that. He didn’t have enough decency to look ashamed, though. Because even though he hadn’t said it yet, Izuku knew he had done _something_.

“… I may be North Korea’s current king?”

That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. That he had stormed into North Korea to get rid of their president because he was in contact with All for One? Yeah, sure. Him becoming the _king_ of North Korea? No. Nope. Never.

Izuku stared. And stared. He stared until he was absolutely, 100% sure, that this was no joke. That Byakuran truly wasn’t joking about something like this.

He wasn’t.

“Byakuran!!”

“I just did what Tsuna would have done!”

“That doesn’t make it okay!”

“I got rid of All for One’s contact and his quirk bank, that’s a good thing!”

“Then why are _you_ the king?!”

“I don’t know, it just happened!”

“AAAAAAARRGH!!!”

Byakuran had the gall to _laugh_ at him, too!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. That happened.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a 16-year-old in the body of a 6-year-old is difficult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I mentioned how much I love your comments? Because I do. Just wanted to say that, because I don't really reply to the comments unless it seems like you're asking something that won't be answered in a couple of chapters. I just don't know how to answer to most comments, so I start overthinking about replying to them and what would I reply and then I just start spiraling so I just... don't reply? But I swear I read every comment several times because I love them.
> 
> Anyways, onto this chapter!

The schedule at Somei Academy was the same every day. They went there early in the morning. Depending on the status of the family and how safe they felt, the kids either went over by themselves or they were dropped off by a family member, or a member of the home staff. Generally speaking, she and Tenya were dropped off, though, if only because of the early hour and her age.

They went to their classes. During breaks, they hung out with their classmates, with their friends. With other Legacies like them. It was what a life was meant to be, for a Legacy. To only ever know the world of heroics. They weren’t allowed to know people who weren’t somehow involved with heroics. Whether the people close to them were heroes themselves, or just Legacies didn’t really matter. If they were neither, the general, never spoken of rule was that they weren’t allowed anywhere near a Legacy.

After classes, it was time to go home. She usually got picked up by someone, whether that be by one of her parents, by her brother, or by one of the staff they had at home. Sometimes, they let her walk on her own, if they were all very busy. They never let her go to school on her own, but that was because of the early hour. It was a generally known fact that less crimes happened in bright daylight, which was why they were willing to let her walk on her own, sometimes. Rarely.

That day, she had been told to wait at the school. There was a clubroom where some younger students would spend time after school, waiting to be picked up by their parents, or by their older siblings who had school for longer than they did. She had never been there before, but that day, she had been told to go there and wait until Tenya got her.

She’d spent her time there just sitting on her own. Pouting and glaring at the table in front of her. The teacher in charge and some of the other kids had tried to engage with her, had tried to get her to play with the others, but she didn’t want to. Not only was it super boring to play with them, it was also childish. She didn’t want to play with dolls and make up stories about what happened to them. No, she wanted to swim, and watch as other people played cards and gambled with each other.

Fuck, she wanted a _phone_. She wanted a camera to shoot pictures and videos with. She wanted a social media platform where she could show the whole world how utterly stupid her family was while also making it clear that they were _hers_ and she’d kill for them.

She wanted her family, who _understood_ her.

She’d almost started crying there. But she’d held it in. She refused to cry in front of all those kids, all those stupid people who would no doubt call her parents and tell them she was crying. Then they’d just get the idea that she was depressed, or something. Just like they figured back when Tensei died.

So, maybe she’d been a little down lately. But she had every right.

Maybe she was too old to be selfish like this. But she just wanted her family back.

Eventually, after what felt like eternity there, in that room, glaring at the table while the other kids laughed and played and made a mess and screamed and cried and were just generally an annoyance, Tenya finally picked her up. She all but ran out of the room. She almost left Tenya behind, as she just kept walking, wanting to get out already.

She wanted to go home.

She was about to start walking towards the Iida Mansion. But Tenya stopped her. “Tensei is picking us up.”

Seriously? “Why?”

“We’re going out.” Tenya smiled. But she had lived about as long as Tenya had. She could see that the smile was fake. That he wasn’t really happy about anything. That he was just smiling for her sake.

He wasn’t even doing it well, like Izuku did. At least on his face, she had trouble figuring out what smiles were for her sake and what was generally him being happy.

Huffing, she turned away from him. She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. Glaring at anyone who so much as looked at her.

They stood there, at the gates, waiting. Waiting for quite a while, actually.

Tensei was running late.

That was fine. She knew he would be fine, regardless of what was going on. So, it was fine. Sure, she was stuck with Tenya, but… it was okay. Like this, he was… okay.

She had forgotten how much she had missed him. How pained she’d been, all these years. Only now, standing next to him, did she remember.

But it wasn’t enough.

She was standing there, next to Tenya, waiting for Tensei to pick them up. They’d go out, together, before they’d go back to that house. That house where everything was the same as always.

She didn’t want that. She wanted to go _home_.

She didn’t want the life that her parents had decided would be hers. She didn’t want a life as a housewife, or a hero. That was just _boring_. She wanted something more than that. No, she _needed_ it.

She could hardly believe that once upon a time, she had wanted a boring life. To be a swimmer. Sure, she enjoyed swimming… but swimmer? Really?

It was all too boring. Swimming, heroics… it was the same old.

Villainy always had something new for you to experience. The rate at which they developed new things for the top guys to experiment with… it was amazing.

Besides. Villainy wasn’t _that_ bad. It couldn’t be, if she felt more at home there than with her blood family.

They were dear to her. Tensei, and Tenya, even. But they weren’t her _family_ anymore.

They had ceased to be her family when they died.

No. Even before that.

Kicking a pebble in front of her, she glanced over to Tenya’s legs. At the exhaust pipes.

Everyone in her family had them. Somewhere on their body, they had exhaust pipes. It didn’t matter where. They were the Iida Family – they were made for speed, with engines. It was what they were known for. Their exhaust pipes and their speed.

She was different. She didn’t have exhaust pipes on her body. She didn’t even have an engine, or anything of the like. What she _did_ have was a speed-boost quirk, called Marlin Speed. It was like any other boost quirk was, giving her a boost of speed. The thing about it was that it only worked underwater, though. It only worked while she was swimming.

She was an outsider. There was no way around it. In her own family, she was an outsider. Had always been… and after Tenya and Tensei died… she had felt even more like an outsider. The weird one without engines.

Byakuran never thought she was weird. Kikyo never thought she was weird. Zakuro never thought she was weird. Daisy never thought she was weird. Torikabuto never thought she was weird. Izuku never thought she was weird, either.

She glared at the ground in front of her.

She didn’t know what had happened. Something must have, for her memories to come to her. For her to time travel like this. She knew something was wrong. She could feel it in the air. Sooner or later, her family would come for her, she knew. They _always_ did.

The question was, when would they?

…

They were just going to go to the park. They were going to have their own mini-piknik, with just snacks and no actual food, and feed the ducks at the pond and just… hang around. Doing nothing. Being boring.

They’d gone to a corner store to grab some snacks and bread to feed the ducks. In it, she stared at all the things she could get. That she could choose from.

Her brothers had already taken and placed some of her favorite chips in the cart when she took the marshmallows from the shelf and dumped them in.

“Tenshi?” Tensei blinked down at her.

“I want marshmallows.” She pouted.

She didn’t, actually. She didn’t really like marshmallows that much.

But Byakuran did. Marshmallows reminded her of Byakuran.

Her brothers didn’t say anything. She did notice them looking at her weirdly, in worry, but she ignored it as she continued to look through the store.

They hadn’t really bought that much. Just some chips and marshmallows and a couple of packets of pocky, as well as drinks. Their parents were kind of strict about what they ate, after all. That, and Tenya had a strict diet. He was training, after all, to get into UA next year. Into the hero course. Because of course he wanted to become a hero.

Tensei was supposed to pay for it all. But of course, while they were at the cashier, waiting for the lady behind the counter to ring all of it in, someone came into the store, lost. Tensei had stepped outside to help them out, like the hero he was.

Of course he did. She didn’t dislike him for it… but that didn’t mean she thought it was good.

Not when he let being a hero intermingle with his civilian life so much.

Couldn’t someone else have helped that person?

So, that led them to now. She and Tenya, stuck at the register. Tenya had tried to pay for their shoppings, but he was just short of the correct amount. He’d pretty much used all of his pocket money on what they were about to buy. Tensei could have easily bought it, being an adult who was making his own money, but they were still kids, and despite everything, Tenya clearly hadn’t expected to pay today.

So they were stuck, waiting for Tensei to come back. At least the lady at the register understood and was kind to them as they waited. Making a bit of small talk with Tenya.

“Uhm, is everything okay?”

She felt her heart stop. Her blood freezing in her veins. Terror squeezing at her heart.

“Yes, of course!” Tenya nodded as he turned to look to where the voice had come from. “Oh! I apologize if we’re in the way. I’m just short of the correct amount of money, and our brother, who was supposed to pay, is just outside, helping a lost civilian. I’m sure he will be back in a moment.”

“It’s okay. How much are you missing?” A footstep, closer. Another. Then, she could almost sense him right next to her. She could feel him, almost.

“J-Just a couple of yen… W-Wait, uh...” Tenya floundered, his eyes widening behind his glasses. Clearly surprised.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” An arm reached around her to pass the lady behind the counter a couple of coins. She looked at them and nodded, ringing it in after a glance to the person behind the arm.

Absently, she noted that Tensei walked in.

“Thank you for shopping here!” She smiled over to Tenya before turning to the person behind her. “You’re next, sir.”

“You didn’t need to do that.” Tensei walked over. He smiled over to the person, though, as he ordered a shellshocked Tenya to put their shoppings into the bag they had brought with them. He moved over, still a bit shocked by the boldness of the person behind her. Tensei, though, just smiled to him. “I’ll pay you back. How much was it?”

“No, no, you don’t have to do that!”

… Huh.

That sounded more alike him.

“I insist.”

“I don’t want the money.” The lady behind the register rang some of the things he was buying. A couple of drinks… a bag of marshmallows… “But, if you insist… Can I?”

“Huh?”

Before any of them realized what was happening, the person reached over to one of the packets of pocky. She turned around just in time to see him open it swiftly and take one of them out, popping it into his mouth.

Izuku crouched down, smiling, with a strawberry pocky in his mouth, as he offered the packet to her. “Here you go, miss!”

Blinking, shocked… she took it.

Izuku did something weird. He smiled, glanced at the packet with a _look…_ and then he stood up. Like nothing had happened.

“There.” Izuku bit into the pocky and swallowed. He showed off the three quarters still left of it with a smile. “My payment.”

The lady behind the register giggled.

“O-Oh.” Tensei blinked, looking a fair bit shocked by what he had done. “Are you sure you don’t want that back as money?”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Izuku waved his hand as he turned to the lady. She told him how much he had to pay, and he counted the coins while making idle small talk with her, Tensei and Tenya, all of them. Almost like he was distracting them.

Distracting… them…

She looked down at the open packet of pocky she was still holding.

Izuku should know that she didn’t like pocky. She didn’t really like sweets at all. Her tastes were more towards salty chips… Izuku should know that. So, for him to have offered the packet specifically to her…

Blinking, she looked inside.

There. Behind all of the pocky sticks… there was a paper.

Biting her lips, she glanced up at her brothers. Their attention was on Izuku…

Swiftly, as sneakily as she could, she took one pocky. With it, though, she slipped the paper behind her palm and into her fist.

“Aah, Tenshi!” Tenya rushed forward the moment she bit into the pocky, realizing what she was doing. “Those are mine!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I assumed they were for her.” When she glanced up, she saw Izuku doing a very convincing fake smiling apology to Tensei.

“It’s fine.” Tensei promised him.

She bit into the pocky, then made a face when Tenya pried the packet from her hands. “They’re not good, anyways.”

Izuku laughed. “Aah, can’t blame her. I’m not that big of a fan of sweets, either.”

“Oh?” Tensei gave a look at the marshmallows. “You aren’t?”

Packing the things he had bought, Izuku gestured to the bag. “These are for a friend. I’m meeting him at the park.”

“We’re also going to the park.” Tenya blinked.

“Oh, really? Want to go together?” Izuku beamed at them. “I mean, I’m not really from around here, and I’m not exactly sure about the meeting place. He mentioned something about a duck statue?”

“Oh, yeah, we know what that… that’s not actually a duck statue, everyone just calls it that. It’s not a literal statue of a duck. We can help you get there.” Tensei nodded with a smile. “Besides, I’d feel better knowing that you meet with that friend of yours. How about we hang around long enough for you to meet with him?”

“Oh, thank you!”

She bit her lips to stop herself from smiling.

Izuku was there. He was buying marshmallows. He had snuck her a paper, no doubt with a message written on it. He was meeting up with a friend, who he bought the marshmallows for.

She was going to see Byakuran again, wasn’t she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> By the way, just a reminder that you can suggest quirks for KHR cast and soulmate pairings. I do suggest that if you have any, you do it early on, especially with the pairings. Some pairings might need me to do some building for them before they're revealed. Some pairings (and quirks) I have already decided, but I do like it when you give me suggestions. They give me ideas about where to take this story.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the head of the Iida matriarch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I procrastinate by writing this fic instead of writing an essay for university? Perhaps. Do I regret it? Perhaps.

“Mom, can I go over for a sleepover at Sumiko-chan’s tomorrow?”

Hanae looked over to her daughter from where she was making some snacks for her family to enjoy as a bit of an evening snack. It wasn’t much, by any means. She wasn’t very good in the kitchen. She had never really been. After a lifetime of being a hero and never concentrating on the housework, she’d probably never be that great in the kitchen, either. When she was young, she spent most of her time outside, working… and when she became older, they had the staff to do these kinds of things for them.

But every once in a while, Hanae liked to do something for her family, too. If only for her children. She wanted them to have a good life. She wanted them to have good memories of home, of her. Of their mother. She wanted them to remember her as a mother who did _not_ belong in the kitchen, but tried anyways, for their sake.

“At Matsumoto’s?” She blinked, looking down at her one and only daughter. At Tenshi.

Tenshi didn’t look a lot like the rest of the Iidas did. Faintly, vaguely enough like them for every hero to guess that she was related to them if they knew she was a Legacy. But aside from that, it could be impossible to guess that she was related to them.

She did have the blue hair. But where her older brothers and father had dark blue hair, so dark it was almost the black that her hair was, Tenshi had light blue hair. It was cut short, like her brothers’. It was easier that way. She didn’t need to worry about how to style her hair in the morning, and it allowed her to have a certain level of visibility. Her hair could hardly ever get in the way of her eyesight, when it was cut short like this. She was in less danger, always, if she could see everything around her. Or, at least, most things around her.

Like everyone else in the family, she had blue eyes. It would have been quite weird, if her eyes had not been blue, when both of her parents had blue eyes. But where the rest of them had narrow eyes with sapphire blue irises, Tenshi’s were wide and big, with deep blue irises.

She was small. She was smaller than even Hanae had been at her age, and quite smaller than her brothers had been at her age. Her limbs were thin, almost frail. Like the smallest of weights could snap them in two. She wasn’t like her brothers, who had engines on their arms and legs respectively. She didn’t even have the same quirk everyone in their family did.

Granted, Marlin Speed was a speed-quirk, like everyone else’s. But it was… different. She didn’t have engines, nor could she run particularly fast. She could swim, faster than anyone without a fishtail, but… Her quirk would hardly be of use, if she got attacked on dry land.

Tenshi was their darling little girl. Their darling little princess, their angel.

But sometimes… sometimes, Hanae had to admit that she would have wanted her to have a quirk more like theirs.

But it didn’t matter. She could still become a hero. With her quirk, she could go to the coast, to specialize in underwater rescue. She could specialize into chasing villains in the water, before they could leave Japan’s waters. Her quirk would allow her to spread their family’s name into a new field in the hero business. She had the chances to become one of the best in that field.

And for that, Hanae was proud, and grateful for.

“Mom?” She blinked, snapping herself out of her thoughts to look at Tenshi. She was standing next to her, pouting. Her hands were on her hips, in an amusing imitation of Hanae herself when she wanted answers from Tensei and Tenya, _now_. She couldn’t help but giggle at the sight.

Tenshi started pouting even more.

“At Matsumoto’s, huh...” Hanae thought about it.

Matsumoto Kenji was a rather minor hero in the local area. Regardless of his fame, though, his daughter Sumiko was a Legacy. She was the same age as Tenshi was, and since they began at Somei, they had become quite close. They were the best of friends, as far as Hanae knew.

It was good to see Tenshi asking about going over for a sleepover. Asking to go over at all. Asking anything at all, to be honest.

Tenshi had been… off, the last few weeks. Hanae didn’t know what had happened. She’d tried asking the school, if the teachers had noticed anything happening during class or breaks. She’d asked the staff they had at home, if they had any idea what had happened. She’d gone so far as to ask Tenya and Tensei, if they knew anything.

Something had happened. She just didn’t know what.

Everything had been the same as always. Tenshi had been the bright child she had always been. Bright, enthusiastic, just a bit too happy, even. Her usual self. Their little angel.

And then… she hadn’t been like that, anymore.

She had become quiet. Sad, almost. More than once, Hanae had walked past her room and heard her crying inside. She had always tried to go and comfort her, ask her what was wrong, but she would just… close off. She would stop crying when she saw her, turn away and act like nothing was wrong. But the moment she was gone again, she’d start crying again.

Lately, she’d learned to be quiet. Now, Hanae couldn’t hear her anymore when she cried. The only way she knew she was still doing it was because her eyes were sometimes red when she left her room.

She didn’t like to spend time with them anymore. With anyone, really. The school had been in contact with her, and they’d informed her that she wasn’t really hanging out with her friends anymore, either. She was just… closing off, completely. She wasn’t playing with her classmates. She hardly talked to them, either. She just sat around in a corner somewhere and… was.

Hanae had been worried about her. So, so worried. So had everyone else. Her brothers, her father, her teachers, her friends and their parents, too. Hanae had been getting calls from their parents, asking if everything was okay and promises that they would help in any way they could.

That was the thing with Legacy families. They stuck together, willing to help at any time. Like true heroes.

Everyone had been so worried about Tenshi lately. She’d been acting so unlike herself, after all, that everyone had noticed. She wasn’t the type of girl to spend time alone. She was a social butterfly, and it was good to see her wanting to do something, again.

Clearly, spending time with her brothers the day before had helped. She was becoming more like herself again. She wanted to do things… wanted to spend time with others again.

The Matsumoto family wasn’t very known. The only hero in the family was a local hero that wasn’t very known. It only made sense that most people wouldn’t know about the family.

For all that they lacked a lot of the security measures that the Iida family had, their biggest security measure was their anonymity. That, and they lived in an area where a lot of other heroes lived. They were considerably more modest than the Iida family was, but they could no doubt hold their own and keep the children safe. No villain would dare to go after a child in that area.

She hummed and smiled. “Well, I suppose you can. Dad’s off work tomorrow, so he could drive you over. What time do you think would be okay for them?”

Tenshi’s expression brightened up at first. Then, as she listened until the end, she started shifting nervously. “Uh… can I go straight from school?”

“Straight from school?” Hanae blinked.

It was generally accepted that Legacies had to report back home before they could go elsewhere. At least the younger ones, unless they were with a family member.

It seemed odd for Tenshi to ask something like that. It seemed odd for anyone in the Matsumoto family to be okay with that, either, because they knew that the Iida family had every right to be paranoid. They were known. People knew they were Legacies.

“I don’t know...” Hanae didn’t like it. It was too risky. At least, it seemed like it was too risky.

“Come on, mom!” Tenshi pouted. “Please? Nothing’s ever happened before!”

That _was_ true…

Hanae bit her lower lip.

It wasn’t like Tenshi had never walked home alone after school. Nothing had ever happened. Two girls, walking alone… it would be safer than walking alone. And the area was largely populated by heroes, too, so the likelihood of anything happening were close to zero.

Nothing could possibly happen without someone seeing. They would know the moment something happened, something that wasn’t supposed to happen.

Everything would be fine.

Right?

She looked over at Tenshi. Looked at the hopeful expression on her face, at the light that had returned to her eyes. Like she was happy, and… like she actually saw a future in front of her. Like whatever had caused her to become… depressed, almost… like it was now gone. Like a storm cloud always passed overhead, but it would pass, eventually.

How could she say no to her? She never could have.

She sighed. “Okay. You can go straight from school.”

Tenshi shrieked in delight. Darting forward, she wound her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Thank you, thank you!”

Hanae smiled down at her. Patting her head, she spoke. “Well, then, you have to pack an overnight bag.”

“Right!” She giggled as she pulled away. “I’ll go do that! Thanks, mom!”

She chuckled as she waved her off.

Watching her all but run to her room, with a spring in her step… Hanae couldn’t help but smile. It had been a while since she had been this happy.

They hadn’t dared to bring her in to the doctor’s. Not yet. But they’d been thinking of it. Her sad demeanor had been going on for so long already that it had definitely seemed like a possibility, that something was wrong.

The school had called, at some point, and suggested taking her to a psychiatrist. They had thought that she may have… that she may have become depressed. That she may be depressed.

Hanae hadn’t wanted to believe it. She still didn’t want to.

But they had thought that maybe… maybe they should take her. If only for her own good.

It was good to see that it wasn’t necessary. To see her like this, happy and energetic again, after these long weeks of sadness and avoiding them… it was good.

She was happy. As long as her children were happy, then so would she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to see her family again

Matsumoto Sumiko was a pretty 6-year-old, with straight long silver hair. It was braided into a neat braid that came to a stop at the bottom of her back. Her eyes were green, and big, yet not too big. Her face was round with baby fat, but it only made her look more charming.

She was a rather charming person, even. Personality-wise, she was a happy and cheerful little girl. She was fair to everyone, ensuring that everyone got to play an equal amount of time. She was liked by the adults and kids around her. She was considered polite and trustworthy. Studious as she was, she could already read a little, more than anyone else their age. Her smile made others smile, and her laugh caused others to laugh alongside her.

She was a nice girl. Charming.

Yet her eyes hid venom inside.

She remembered her. Matsumoto Sumiko, that is. They’d been classmates, all the way until her accident. They’d actually been pretty good friends. Since the moment they met for the first time, they’d been good friends. They’d been ready to take the world together.

But she wasn’t as good as people thought. She wasn’t a nice person.

No. Matsumoto Sumiko was an opportunist who knew that her family didn’t have a lot of standing in society, what with her father being a local and barely ever talked of hero. But she did know that the Iida family had a lot of social standing, and she was the kind of person to make friends with the famous, to get a bit of that fame herself.

They’d been friends, up until the accident. Or she had always thought that they were friends. But they had never really been. Not, if she could just abandon her like that in the aftermath of the most traumatic experience of her life. Lives.

She could still hear it in her head, when she was with her. When she walked with her, acting as though she was listening to every word out of her mouth with rapt attention. Her voice, the voice of that young teenager, as she all but laughed in her face. About how stupid she was, to get into that accident at all. How she didn’t need her. How there were other kids, other Legacies, whose families were much better off at that time than the Iida family was.

At that point, the Iida family had hit rock bottom. They’d had no status… not when all the heroes had ended their careers, in one way or another.

Matsumoto Sumiko had been garbage. A venomous bitch.

It was fitting, that her body had just… given up.

Many had mourned her.

She wasn’t one of them. When others had mourned her, she’d sat with Byakuran and laughed.

Because she was a bitch. Had always been, and would always be.

It was why she had decided to use her as a diversion.

“Your parents usually want you to walk straight home, though.” Matsumoto Sumiko looked over at her. She looked a little uncertain, yet happy. But she could read her, better than she would ever think she could. She could see that happiness wasn’t real. She was wary, uncertain of where they stood. Wary of what she was up to now.

She supposed that suddenly becoming friendly again, after avoiding her like the plague, was a bit suspicious.

“It’s fine!” She beamed. The thought of what was about to happen next made her so happy that she didn’t even need to fake it. “This is just a little detour, they won’t even notice!”

Matsumoto Sumiko smiled and took the excuse as a truth. There was no way that she could figure out how wrong it truly was, not when she was just 6 years old.

If she’d been a bit older, she might have figure it out.

They walked together, from the school, all the way to a point that she felt was far enough away. No one had given it much thought that they were walking together, considering that they did live in the same general direction. By the time they both made the turn towards the Matsumoto family’s house, there hadn’t been enough other students around to question it. Her excuse, that she’d only come for a little bit and then take a turn towards the Iida Mansion, was easily believed by Matsumoto Sumiko.

Eventually, they came to a corner. It was the last spot from where she could make the turn towards the Iida Mansion, and the both knew it.

They exchanged goodbyes. She made sure to stay where she stood and wave, until she couldn’t see the other girl anymore.

Once she was sure that Matsumoto Sumiko was gone for good… she turned around and walked back.

She waited at the lights to cross the road. The people were bumping into her, and immediately apologizing for it, but she hardly cared. She just gave them a happy grin before she was on her way again. She made it all the way to the other side, and turned to cross the next street. Getting further away from the Iida Mansion.

She could hear it in the air. As she spread out her senses, she could hear all the Flames around her. She could hear two in particular. Louder than the other Flames in the area… in that way that all awakened Flames were. But these two… they were even louder than that.

Giggling, she made her way over. She was careful, though, keeping an eye on the cars.

She always was. Ever since the accident, she was always wary of crossing the road.

She didn’t want a repeat of what had happened.

Without a care in the world, she rounded the corner and ducked into the alley she could hear the Flames in… only to come face-to-face with Izuku’s wide-eyed, shocked expression.

She froze.

Izuku stood there. Right in the middle of the alley, having just turned towards her. His eyes were wide, his mouth agape. Like it was the first time he had ever seen her. Like he hadn’t been expecting her to be there, right then.

She tensed up. That… that wasn’t possible, right?

He’d been the one to get her that message! The message that specified that they would be coming for her, and she should create a diversion of some kind for them. That they had a way out of the country and they had to get a move on today, that they’d take her with them… He’d been the one to get that message!

For a few seconds, they stood around like that. But then, a head popped up from behind Izuku and over his shoulder. “Bluebell!”

She felt her body relax. Looking up at that familiar face, with spiky white hair on top and light purple eyes… She felt like nothing could go wrong in the world.

Then she remembered everything that had happened. She remembered everything that had happened in the future. She remember how Byakuran had… how he had sent Izuku to kill them.

She paused. Swallowing thickly, she stared at the two of them. At Byakuran and Izuku. The two men who had fooled her… and probably everyone else, too. They’d fooled them to think that everything was okay, that they were safe. They’d made them trust them.

For the first time in a while, she actually _thought_.

Was… Was this what she wanted? Did she genuinely want this to be her life, all over again? Did she want to be stuck in Byakuran’s chessboard again?

She could become a villain through other means. She didn’t have to do it like _this_. She didn’t have to willingly put herself on Byakuran’s chessboard. She didn’t have to choose this to be her fate again. To be sucked of her life force by Izuku. That didn’t _have_ to be her fate.

But… she wanted her _family_. She wanted everything to go back to how it had been, before Izuku went insane. Before he broke.

Flames brushed up against her own. Sky Flames… so familiar… yet just different enough to make her blink.

Something… something was different.

She looked up, only to see that Byakuran had walked closer. He had crouched down in front of her. He was smiling to her… but there was something sad in his expression. “Are you okay?”

The Byakuran she remembered had never asked her. He’d never wanted to know if she was okay. He’d always just assumed. He’d had expectations for her… and she had wanted to reach those expectations, whether she was okay or not. It hadn’t mattered if she was okay, or not. As long as she could do what she had to, she was fine. And if she couldn’t… then, she just had to make sure could still do what she had to.

Byakuran had never asked if she was okay.

“You’re not hurt, right?” He continued. He looked her up and down, his Flames brushing a little more insistently, trying to see if anything at all was wrong. Even like this, she could feel the worry in them. The worry that he was trying to hide… but at the same time, not.

But… that… That wasn’t right.

This wasn’t how she remembered Byakuran being.

Her eyes wide, she turned to look at Izuku. He had stayed back, awkwardly standing around. As though he wasn’t quite sure about what to do. Not a big surprise there, considering he had always tended to avoid the rest of them. He hadn’t been a very social person from the very beginning.

When he noticed her looking at him, he blinked. Briefly, she felt his Lightning Flames brush up against her… and then, he smiled wryly. Understanding what her problem was. Understanding why she was hesitating. “Yeah… Apparently, Vongola and Arcobaleno created a miracle. It’s how we got our memories… and they sealed our Sky’s abilities and quirk a bit, so… Yay, our boss is sane like a normal person?”

She blinked.

Byakuran turned to look at him. “I thought you still thought I’m insane?”

“That’s got more to do with the fact that you went and became a _king_ and that _somehow_ wasn’t important enough to mention in your opinion.”

“How can you still be mad about that, I explained myself?”

Izuku buried his head in his hands.

She looked between them. She blinked. “… King?”

“Yeah!” Byakuran beamed happily. But she could see that he was nervous, too.

She’d never seen him nervous before. Angry, mad, annoyed, delighted, happy… but never nervous. It felt… it didn’t look right on him. In all her memories, she couldn’t imagine this kind of expression on Byakuran. On the future Byakuran. It just didn’t seem right.

And yet, her Flames sang at the sight of it.

“I’m the king of North Korea!”

She blanched.

She could admit that she wasn’t exactly up to date with everything… political. She had barely started middle school the first time around, before she had dropped out of school. Byakuran had ensured that she knew everything she had to… but she didn’t remember the things she didn’t want to remember. Those didn’t matter. Politics were just boring, so of course she didn’t remember anything about them.

But she was pretty sure… _pretty sure…_ that what her Sky had just said wasn’t… exactly… how to put it…

“How?” She blinked.

For some reason, Byakuran brightened up. Izuku sighed in what seemed to be relief, his body sagging just a bit.

“Long story.” Byakuran admitted. “But basically, the previous president was corrupt and in contact with a villain and using the citizen for bad things, so I went and solved that problem.”

“I still can’t get over the fact that it’s previous president.” Izuku stared off into the distance. He looked vaguely like he was having a crisis.

Byakuran just laughed.

In response, she giggled along.

As she did, she noticed it.

A bond. A bond between herself… and Byakuran, and Izuku.

A Sky, and the Elements.

There were just her and Izuku. Just a Lightning and a Rain. Them, and their Sky. Byakuran.

… Oh.

That was fine.

“Nee, Byakuran?” She reached over and tugged on his sleeve. He immediately stopped laughing and turned to her. His happy expression didn’t leave, though. He was beaming widely, his eyes curious, but not like they’d been before. He didn’t look quite so… mischievous, now.

Not quite like he’d murder her if he didn’t like her question.

“Yeah?” He asked. His tone was warm, and his Flames brushed against her in a way that made her want to throw her arms around him. It almost felt like they were trying to encompass hers… but not to bind them. No, to protect them. To protect _her_.

It wasn’t like before. At all. Before, they had felt suffocating. A reminder of her Sky’s power.

This time, it just felt like he was a big brother wanting to protect her from everything. Everything that could hurt her… he just wanted to protect her.

That’s what it felt like.

And there, faintly, she could feel Izuku’s Lightning Flames, too. Just a tiny bit… like he was still afraid of getting too close.

But he _was_ there.

“We’re going to find the rest, right?” She tilted her head to the side. “We’re… We’re going to be a family again, right?”

Byakuran blinked. His eyes widened briefly, like the question surprised him. But then, as quickly as the surprise had appeared, it was gone. Instead, he smiled, the warmest expression she had ever seen on his face appearing.

Absently, she noticed that Izuku had a similar expression on his face. Like the very prospect made him just as delighted as it made the two of them.

She’d always known that he thought of them as his family just as much as he’d been a part of their family.

Byakuran reached over, and he ruffled her hair. She leaned into it, beaming.

It felt… good. Really good. So good she couldn’t explain it.

“Of course we will, Bluebell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are still some things left to do, before they leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if you'll notice something different in this chapter compared to the earlier chapters with this character's POV

Izuku clapped his hands. “Okay, first things first – Bluebell, what do you have with you?”

Bluebell glanced over to him. As she swung her bags to the ground, she noticed that he wouldn’t step closer. Instead, Byakuran shifted to inspect her regular schoolbag, while she opened the overnight bag she had packed the night before.

She hadn’t been able to take much, to be honest. Anything that one would normally take for a sleepover was obviously there, but anything else? It was harder for her to take anything like that, without arousing some suspicion. They didn’t need any kind of suspicion on them right then. What they needed was that everyone stayed clueless for a while longer. So, she didn’t really have a lot with her.

“A change of clothes, pajamas, toothbrush, some snacks...” She hummed as she looked through what she had. “What you’d usually have at a sleepover.”

“Phone, passport?” Izuku asked.

“Phone, yes.” She gestured over to the bag that Byakuran was looking through. “Passport, no.”

“That’s good.”

She blinked and looked up at him. “How so?”

“Because heroes are stupid.” Izuku snorted. “Since your passport isn’t with you, they won’t think we’re hopping out of the country.”

“Oh!” If she had her passport with her, the heroes would assume that there was a chance that they’d get out of the country. They’d be quicker to spread their search to airports, and to outside of the country. They’d call for the other countries for help considerably faster than if she didn’t have a passport with her and, thus, as far as anyone was concerned, she couldn’t get out of the country. At least, not fast.

But how were they going to get out of the country, then?

She supposed they had a plan.

“Is the phone going to be a problem?” Byakuran held it up. He held it with two fingers, like he was worried it was poisonous or something. That if he actually held it, he’d die.

“Why would it?” Izuku blinked.

“They can track it.” Bluebell nodded. “But only when it’s on. Somei has a rule that we have to turn our phones off during the schoolday, like, completely turn them off, not just on silent. It’s not the first time I would forget to turn it on afterwards.”

“But it _can_ be tracked.” Byakuran looked at it with a calculative look. “… We have to get rid of it.”

Bluebell had suspected that to be the case.

She watched as Byakuran offered it to Izuku. She watched, somewhat mesmerized, as the exchange happened. It wasn’t really anything spectacular, but… not once did they touch each other.

Now that she thought of it… she couldn’t remember Izuku touching her when he had given her that packet of pocky, either. He hadn’t touched Tenya… or Tensei… or her… or that lady behind the counter, either. She hadn’t seen him touch anyone.

What was that about?

“Let’s fry it, just in case.” Byakuran glanced over to Bluebell. “If that’s okay?”

She nodded. “I figured. There’s nothing in it I want to keep, anyways.”

Byakuran nodded and gave Izuku a look. “Do the honours?”

Izuku sighed. He took a few steps backwards. Holding the phone on his palm, he stared down at it. Bluebell could feel his Flames surging, activating. The next thing she knew, the phone rattled as electricity coursed through it.

A faint smell of something burning filled the alley. Bluebell made a face at it.

Byakuran laughed and tapped her nose with his finger.

She blinked.

“You said you have a change of clothes?” Izuku asked.

Bluebell blinked again. “Uh… yeah. For school tomorrow, as far as anyone knows.”

“But people are stupid. They don’t think that you’ll be working with us.” Byakuran smirked. Now _that_ was more alike him. “When they realize you’re missing, they’ll assume you’re wearing what you’re wearing right now.”

“Any sighting of you in another outfit will go unnoticed, at least for a while.” Izuku nodded. “To begin with, people notice and remember a person’s clothes better than their overall looks.”

That made sense. Bluebell couldn’t say that she really took notice of what people looked like, on the street, either. If she was ever asked if she had seen someone specific, she’d probably be looking through her memory based on a specific outfit, rather than looks. Even when everyone looked so extravagant these days, what with all of their mutations and whatnot… it was just too hard, to remember a specific overall look. But a specific outfit… it was a lot easier to remember, and place.

“Let’s see here...” Byakuran came over and looked into the bag. “The bag is another way to recognize you, so we should ditch it now, rather than later.”

“I have a bag here.” Izuku turned around and walked further into the alley. They followed him, getting a bit further away from the mouth of the alley. They rounded the corner, to get behind some of the buildings, out of sight of everyone, essentially. There, Izuku leaned behind a dumpster. After digging for a moment, he took out a sports bag. It was plain black and cylinder in shape. The straps were wide and adjustable, meaning it was most likely comfortable to carry either at the side or at the back. It was pretty small, though, so small that most people would overlook it. It almost looked like it could just be used as a particularly large handbag to stuff your purse and phone and little shopping bags into.

Honestly? It was a lot better, and more inconspicuous, than Bluebell’s bright blue bag.

They took most of the stuff Bluebell had in her bag and put it into Izuku’s. The only thing that wasn’t put in there was the new outfit that was meant to be the one Bluebell wore to school the next day. Instead, she changed into it in that back alley, with both Byakuran and Izuku keeping watch. Not that she really cared _that_ much. She wasn’t bothered by nudity.

Then again, she supposed it was reasonable for them to be at least embarrassed. She was a girl, and a child right now…

Surprisingly enough, once she was done changing, they took out their own pair of spare clothing. Taking turns keeping watch, they, too, changed into new clothes.

Once they were done, she looked at them both. She herself was clad in black leggings and a matching skirt, with a pink shirt that clashed horribly with her hair. She’d also had the blue sweater she’d been wearing today, meant to be worn the next day as well. Maybe because her companions had been watching for a while, though, but Byakuran had offered her another, a better one. So, she’d stuffed that sweater into her bright blue bag and graciously zipped the white hoodie shut, hiding the horrendous shirt. “So… what now?”

“We need to get rid of the phone.” Izuku glanced down at the front pocket of his beige jeans, where he’d hidden the thing. At least it didn’t smell too strongly, anymore, and would go unnoticed in a crowd.

With the jeans, Izuku also wore a black T-shirt underneath a white hoodie. It was made of rather thin material, so he wouldn’t be getting too hot. He’d left it open, too, letting the slight wind keep him cool.

“Before that, though…” Byakuran took the bag from her. “Need anything else from here, or are we good to destroy it for good?”

She smiled and nodded. Taking a step back, towards Izuku, she spoke. “Good to go!”

She noted that Izuku tensed up next to her. Byakuran looked between them, looking a tad concerned as he glanced at Izuku. He did take a few steps away from them, though, and turned away as he lighted the bag on fire with his Sky Flames.

It was pretty. The Flames burned through the blue material, and even without causing too big of a mess. They weren’t _actual_ flames, after all. Although they caused smoke, it was considerably lesser than actual fire could have caused.

Once he was done burning the bag, he threw it into one of the large garbage disposals. He turned to them, gesturing for them to move. He reached over for the bag Izuku was holding. Again, without touching each other, the bag exchanged owners.

Briefly, Bluebell wondered why Izuku couldn’t carry the bag. But she supposed it made more sense for Byakuran to carry it. If only because he was the one wearing a pair of white sweatpants, a black tank top and a white sleeveless hoodie that was left opened. There was also a black cap settled onto his head. He definitely looked like the more sporty one of the duo. It looked less suspicious if he was the one who carried the bag.

It wasn’t much. But she supposed it was the little things that made the big picture.

“Let’s go.” Byakuran shouldered the bag. “I don’t want to head straight for our plane – it’s still a bit early.”

“Heroes will eventually look through the cameras around the city anyways.” Izuku nodded. “We still have time before your disappearance will be noticed… so we should try to throw them off.”

Byakuran looked down at her as they started walking. “How long do you think we have?”

Bluebell hummed. She tapped her chin twice as she thought, looking up to the sky. “I think… It’s not unusual for me to forget to turn on my phone… and the Iidas are convinced that I’m at Matsumoto’s… They’ll call them at some point, but I don’t think they’ll do that until evening at the earliest. They’re all pretty busy, after all, and they’re convinced that if they don’t hear anything from any heroes on patrol, than nothing could have happened.”

“Because they don’t expect you to work with us.” Izuku nodded. “Makes sense.”

As they began getting closer to where they’d leave the alleys and move into bigger crowds, Bluebell reached for their hands. She knew that for all that she was actually a teenager in mind, she was a little girl in body. It would look just a tiny bit less suspicious if she was holding onto them.

Byakuran took her hand without hesitation. Izuku flinched away.

Bluebell couldn’t mask the hurt and anguish on her expression, let alone in her Flames.

Why…? They were family, right?

So, why… why did Izuku keep flinching away from her? Why did he keep tensing up around her?

Sure, they hadn’t really been close, before… but surely…?

Lightning Flames brushed against her Rain. An apology, and something deeper… anguish… and fear…?

Sky Flames blanketed over them both, reassuring. Byakuran squeezed her hand. Asking for her attention.

When she turned to him, he leaned down to whisper to her. “Izuku’s quirk is… dangerous.”

“I know.” He had explained, before. When Bluebell had first joined. When she’d first seen Izuku. He had explained that his quirk was dangerous… and that was why he was the Lightning Funeral Wreath. That was why he’d caught his eye to begin with.

“Right.” Byakuran swallowed thickly. He glanced over at Izuku, before turning back to Bluebell. “The thing is… Izuku never learned to control his quirk. So, he can’t exactly turn it on and off willingly. It’s just kind of always on, now. He’s been training, but… he doesn’t trust himself right now.”

Bluebell didn’t know what Izuku’s quirk was. All she knew was that if Byakuran called it dangerous, then that probably meant that he could kill people in an instant.

He couldn’t control it. Had never learned how to.

He was terrified of something.

Bluebell turned to him. “You’re… scared of hurting me?”

Izuku’s face twisted into agony. “I don’t want to hurt you. I… I could barely stop last time, with… with Byakuran.”

She turned to look at him.

Byakuran was looking at Izuku with something… something in his eyes. She couldn’t name it… but it felt like it was something deep. Deep, yet warm. Accepting? “You had every right to kill me.”

“I don’t _want_ to, though.”

She wasn’t exactly sure what it was that was going on between them. But, what she did know, at least from that conversation, was that… Izuku had had a chance to kill Byakuran, in this timeline. He almost had. But he didn’t want to. He’d only just managed to learn even a tiny bit of control of his quirk… a quirk that could kill so easily…

Suddenly, him always avoiding everyone made a lot more sense.

“Skin-to-skin activation?” She looked up at Izuku.

He just nodded.

“Okay.” She nodded. “I… I won’t touch.” Not physically, at least. Because despite everything, she did want to reassure him. He was a part of her family, after all, and to realize that he was in anguish, that he was afraid by just being around her…

She tried to copy Byakuran. She tried to blanket him in her Rain Flames. But her control had never been top-notch, so it didn’t work exactly as she wanted it to. There were holes, and it was more like a thin, holey blanket, than the warm and fuzzy one Byakuran gave them.

But his Lightning created a blanket around her… and she felt like he understood, and appreciated her sentiment.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both Izuku and Byakuran smiling briefly. The next moment, a black cap was placed on her head.

Surprised, she tilted her head back just in time to see Byakuran force another black cap onto Izuku’s head, despite his attempt to get away.

“Byakuran?” She blinked up at him after he managed to get the cap on Izuku’s head.

“It’s just a bit more camouflage for us.” He reached down for the bag and zipped it shut. When did it unzip it? “It’s not suspicious, either. It’s sunny enough that a lot of people are wearing hats and sunglasses. Little girls need to make sure they don’t get a heatstroke, and no one will question an albino wearing a cap in sunlight. Izuku is just a normal person who doesn’t enjoy wearing sunglasses, so cap it is.”

“Are you actually an albino, though, or do you just have naturally white hair?”

“I mean, my parents and brother are all blond, so I assume that I’m an albino?”

Bluebell stopped. She gaped. “Wait.”

Byakuran groaned. “Oh come on, not again.”

Izuku gave him an amused look. “I mean, you never mentioned it before, so...”

“You have a brother?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I want to warn you guys that my update schedule might become different from now on. I still have a lot of chapters written at this point, but my schedule with university unexpectedly changed pretty drastically as of today. I'll still be able to update every 3 days for this week, but I'm not sure about what happens after this week. I'll see how next week goes with my new workload and go from there, I guess.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku has an opinion about a certain Asura Box and Byakuran should have realized that it would be a problem.

Considering that Nam Seong-gi had all but been the right-hand man of the previous president of North Korea, he was relatively young. The man in his early 30s with dark green snakes for hair and reflective glasses settled against his eyes had climbed the ranks in the North Korean society fast and without mercy. He was the type of man who knew just the right words to say at just the right time. He knew how to fake being on your side, if only for his own sake.

Byakuran quite liked him. For all that he’d been the right-hand man of the previous president, he hadn’t mourned the loss of his leader. Not like some of the others had. Not like most of the military leaders had. No, Nam Seong-gi had stood and watched, and his Flames had sang in gratitude, in the realization that the bastard was finally dead. That he was free, that their _country_ was free.

Many would consider it a bad move on his part. To allow the man who had been the previous leader’s right-hand man to become his own right-hand man. Considering how different they were, how Byakuran had very different views on several things compared to the previous president, it seemed like a recipe for getting himself usurped by the old leader’s loyal follower. Everyone still thought that he was loyal to the previous president, after all.

Byakuran knew better. And he’d made it clear to Nam Seong-gi when he’d appointed him as his right-hand man. For now, anyways.

He wasn’t his most trusted. No, those would forever be his family. But he supposed, he and his family couldn’t always be at North Korea, keeping everything in check. So it was good that Nam Seong-gi was there, to keep everything in order.

He also made for a great escape from Japan. After all, who would ever think that he was working together with two teenagers to kidnap a little Legacy? So far no one knew about the fate of North Korea, and so, they had no reason to assume that Byakuran, let alone Izuku, had anything to do with the country. It was the absolute _last_ place where anyone would look for them.

It was perfect.

They had all had a pretty long day. While Nam had been acting like a sudden trip to Japan was just because he wanted to and just overall avoiding suspicion from the Japanese officials, Byakuran, Izuku and Bluebell had been going _everywhere_. They’d walked all around Musutafu, acting as unsuspicious yet as suspicious as they could.

Okay, that was weird. But basically, they’d been walking around, trying to avoid detection. They’d managed that, unsurprisingly. A couple of people had questioned them once or twice, but Bluebell had quickly gotten them to back off. Apparently, two guys alone with a girl who looked nothing like either of them did cause some suspicion, but if the girl claimed one of them as her big brother and the other being his best friend, then, well, apparently they were in the clear. Though, of course they were. After all, who would think that the girl was actually working with her kidnappers? That wouldn’t make any sense, right?

But they’d been walking around. They’d made sure they were seen by cameras. They’d walked a rather elaborate routine, trying their best to confuse the heroes once they’d start looking through the cameras and the feed.

Of course, once they’d decided to head for the private airplane, they’d made sure to duck out of the sights of the cameras. It had made the walk back a bit tedious, them having to take the longest possible route back since there were cameras literally everywhere else, but it was well worth it. It would take _ages_ before the heroes would realize that they weren’t on the other side of Musutafu.

Now, they were on their way out of the country and to North Korea. The private airplane they had wasn’t the smallest possible, admittedly. According to Byakuran’s calculations, it could easily hold him and his closest family… and maybe a few others… extended family, so to say.

He swallowed thickly as he thought of another Sky. A Sky who was in Japan. Who had probably already finished with his battle, winning, as always. That’s just how Tsuna was. He could win, even when the odds were so clearly against him.

He wanted to see him.

But he couldn’t.

Rather than think about that, or the soulmate mark on his thigh, he turned to look at his companions. Bluebell was seated next to him. She was leaning against him, sleeping. She was still a little girl, after all, and it was to be expected that after all the excitement of the day, plus all that walking around they did, that she’d fall asleep. That she’d be exhausted.

Izuku was seated opposite of them. With his back to the cockpit, and his body far enough away from them that there was no way for him to accidentally touch them, he kept an eye on them, a warm look in his eyes. Byakuran could feel his Flames in a blanket around them, leaving his claim on them while also reassuring them that he _wanted_ to be here, right next to them – he just couldn’t be too close to them, not right then and there.

Byakuran looked at him, and he couldn’t help but think of the future. Of what had happened, there, in that future… never meant to happen, he supposed.

He thought of Tsuna. He thought of Izuku. He thought of Hawks.

He thought of everything he’d done. Of everything he had planned. What he’d intended.

He let out a humorless chuckle.

“What is it?” Izuku turned to look at him. He raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing, nothing!” Byakuran waved his hand. He put on a smile, hoping that Izuku wouldn’t catch sight of the sadness underneath. Hoping that he couldn’t see and somehow figure out what he was thinking of.

He wouldn’t be too surprised. Izuku had always been smart. The smartest.

“Just thought of something.” He settled back down. Tilting his head back, he looked at the ceiling of the plane. “… Guess nothing ever goes according to plan.”

“Well that’s promising.” He could hear how Izuku looked through his pockets. “I hope that you aren’t talking about this particular plan of ours?”

Tilting his head back down he saw Izuku take out a phone. Not the one he used to have, though. Nor Bluebell’s old phone. No, they’d made sure to get rid of both of them during the day.

Currently, both phones were having a magnificent time at the bottom of a river. Getting them there without being suspicious, or noticed, had been a bit interesting. But they’d managed, and gotten rid of both phones in a way that would keep them from getting found for quite a while. If they were ever found, that is.

No, the phone Izuku took out was a new one, but it was his. Byakuran had made sure to get all of them new phones, ready to be put to use the moment he found all of them. They were some of the first of this model. Phones that, ten years into the future, had been the newest.

North Korea was truly an untapped gold mine of goods. Because it had been cut off from the rest of the world for so long, even though their technology wasn’t as advanced as elsewhere, it didn’t take long to get them to a point where Byakuran was satisfied that they could create great things. Give him a couple years, and he could make it into the world’s wealthiest country.

Well. He was one of the only men who could do that, though.

Having access to memories of the future as well as to the parallel worlds could really come in handy.

“I mean, who knows?” He hummed as he watched Izuku start looking for something on the phone. Probably the news, to be completely honest.

Izuku hummed. “They’ve noticed.”

No doubt they had. It was already way past midnight. It had been hours since the heroes had noticed that Bluebell was missing… but it would take so, _so_ long before they would realize where she actually was. It would even take them quite a while to realize that she’d been taken, and to identify them.

“There are search parties.” Izuku informed him as he looked through the newsfeed. “Surprisingly, there’s not even a suggestion of kidnapping over here. They just think she’s lost, or something.”

“I mean, technically, she’s young enough to be.” Physically, at least.

“Still, she’s a Legacy. The first thought should be that she’s been kidnapped.”

"We also haven’t left any kind of ransom note, so there’s that...”

Izuku hummed. It sounded vaguely like he was agreeing. Then, he put his phone away. “How long until we land?”

It wouldn’t be too long. The flight didn’t take too long to begin with… and they’d been on the way for quite a while already. “Not even an hour, if I’m right.”

Izuku nodded. “And you’re sure we’re not about to run into an attempt to usurp you right off the bat?”

Byakuran laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

He nodded.

“I mean it.” Byakuran tilted his head a little, smiling to him. “I got rid of the men who were on the old guy’s side. The people love me. And the Research Institute would have informed me if _anything_ had happened.”

“The Research Institute?” Izuku blinked.

Byakuran nodded. “You didn’t honestly think I didn’t immediately start figuring out how we’re going to keep fighting in this era? We know how to fight with Box Weapons. In this era… it’s a bit different.”

Realization dawned on his face. “You’re bringing Box Weapons to this era after all. I was wondering about that… so, you have a Research Institute on that?”

He nodded again. “I’m having them concentrate on figuring out a very… _vital…_ problem with the Asura Boxes.”

“A vital problem?” Izuku blinked. “There was a problem with them?”

Byakuran made a face, but tried to pull on a smile. Even he could tell that it was more of a grimace, though, and he had no doubt Izuku saw right through it. “They were rather difficult to close after being opened, weren’t they? Since they were fused with you guys, they essentially made you guys Box Weapons, too. If they had just given you the ability to transform, rather than become Box Weapons… Well. I hope that your whole being wouldn’t be made of Flames and… well.”

“We couldn’t be taken out with Flame absorption techniques,” Izuku said. His tone was bland… like he was trying very hard to not think about something.

Byakuran knew that his memories of the last battle must not be… the brightest. But he knew that they both knew what had happened there.

Izuku knew, just as much as he did, that he’d killed Bluebell and Zakuro. He would have killed Kikyo, too, if he hadn’t been stopped. He would have killed _everyone_ there if he hadn’t been stopped.

Byakuran wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have killed him in that state, too. Not after he got him going.

For a while, neither of them said anything. Izuku was deep in his own thoughts, and Byakuran wasn’t sure what to say. How to bring him out of his thoughts. How to comfort him.

He wasn’t sure about a lot of things, anymore. Not when they came to Izuku.

“… Do you take suggestions?”

“Huh?” Byakuran blinked.

“Do you take suggestions?” Izuku repeated. “About the Asura Boxes?”

Byakuran blinked a few times, before tilting his head to the side. “… Depends. I mean, if you want to, I can… We don’t have to make you one...”

“No.” Izuku shook his head. “I… I do want one. I want to be able to turn into Ghost, if… If things become too bad. If it becomes necessary.”

… Oh.

Byakuran couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on his lips.

Regardless of everything else… he could always trust in Izuku to want to keep the rest of them safe.

“I have a suggestion for Bluebell’s box.” Izuku pointed at her sleeping form for emphasis.

“For Bluebell’s?” Byakuran blinked.

Izuku gave him a look. “You do remember that she was practically naked?”

Oh. Oh!

Byakuran winced. “Okay, yeah, that won’t do. I have to send a message to deal with that. She’s way too young at this point to go around like that. Maybe when she’s older and can make that decision, but… no. Nope.”

“I swear, if one pedophile tries to go after her, someone’s dying.”

Byakuran laughed.

Despite everything… Izuku was still the same old, trustworthy Izuku.

“… It’s good to have you back. I… missed this.”

Izuku smiled. “It’s… good to be back. I missed this, too.”

Byakuran smiled over to him.

He ignored the twinge of jealousy and envy and regret inside of himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Aizawa Shouta and his newest headache!

Nothing made any sense.

Iida Tenshi disappeared four days ago. Her disappearance was noticed about three and a half days ago, after her mother, Iida Hanae, called Matsumoto Kenji to ask about her. According to her statement, she was supposed to stay there overnight for a sleepover. She’d asked for permission to go straight from school the night before she disappeared. Iida Hanae had given permission not only for the sleepover but also for her to go to the Matsumotos’ straight after school.

Which, in Shouta’s honest opinion, was fucking stupid.

Legacy children were vulnerable. They were the ones that villains would go after if they wanted revenge on anyone. If they wanted revenge on the hero society as a whole, they’d go after Legacy children. They should _never_ be left to go off on their own, especially the younger ones. What was Iida Tenshi, except one of the youngest Legacies? Not only was she not old enough to make the trip from Somei Private Academy to her home alone, she was _not_ old enough to go straight to a friend’s after the school day was over. Like any other Legacy her age, she should have been expected to return home first, to let her family know that she was alright, before she was dropped off by a family member at the friend’s house.

That was how things would have normally gone. That was how things _usually_ went.

Shouta didn’t want anyone to get him wrong. He greatly disliked how guarded Legacies were. He hated how they could barely step outside of their houses without guards at their sides. He hated how they couldn’t do the things normal kids could, like go to a friend’s for a sleepover straight from school without seeing their families for a few days. He hated how they couldn’t be normal kids. But he also acknowledged that it wasn’t safe for them to live like normal kids did. The only way they were safe and sound was if everything was done according to that simple protocol their predecessors had come up with.

Legacies are picked up from school until they’re strong enough that they can handle themselves for a moment before a hero gets to their side. They always go straight home to let their families know that they’re fine. Then, and only then, could they go off to spend the rest of their day wherever. If they were young enough, then they were accompanied by a relative capable of protecting them.

That very simple protocol hadn’t been followed with Iida Tenshi. And now she was missing.

Granted, Shouta could kind of understand the woman. Being a friend of Tensei’s, he had heard all about how Iida Tenshi had been lately. He knew that she had been down for _weeks_ now. He knew that she had avoided everyone, from her family to her friends. For her to have even asked to spend additional time with anyone, at that point, had been a gift from the gods. A little begging from her, and of course Iida Hanae had agreed. She’d been convinced that if anything happened, they’d hear about it immediately. After all, why wouldn’t they? She was going to be spending the day at a friend’s house.

Except… that wasn’t the case.

Really, that was the part where it all began. Nothing making sense, that is.

Iida Tenshi had asked for permission to spend the day and night over at Matsumotos’ house.

According to Matsumoto Kenji and his daughter Sumiko, there had never been any kind of plan for her to go over. Not to spend the day, let alone for her to spend the night.

In fact, as far as Matsumoto Sumiko knew, she and Iida Tenshi had just walked together a lot further than usually, but they’d split up and they’d both gone home. She’d left Iida Tenshi a long before she’d made it home, and she’d promised that she’d go straight home, too.

Heroes had been mobilized immediately after that became known. Everyone who had been patrolling in the area that day had been asked about her. But none of them could remember ever seeing her there at that time.

While so many heroes and even civilians started scouring the area in hopes of finding her, lost and sad, but alive, Shouta had sat down and frowned in thought. It had caused quite a few of his coworkers to glare at him, seeing that he had no intentions of joining the search parties, but he hadn’t particularly cared. Because from the very beginning, there had been something about the whole story that just didn’t make sense.

That something was the fact that Iida Tenshi had asked for permission to go to the Matsumotos’ house at all.

There had been no plans whatsoever. She had never even mentioned the plans to her friend. Yet, clearly, she’d had every intention of going, considering she had packed an overnight bag. The teachers at Somei could attest to that, as could the other students. The bright blue bag she had carried around the whole day had caused a couple of odd looks, after all, but no one had really dared to ask. They’d been somewhat afraid that asking would make her pull away from them again, like she’d been doing for weeks. Everyone had had their own thoughts about what there was inside the bag, but they hadn’t asked her.

Yet, an overnight bag it was. Iida Hanae had checked through it before Iida Tenshi could go to school, to check that she had everything. She was the kind of girl who had a tendency to forget things like that sometimes. Just like she had a tendency to forget to turn on her phone after school was over.

Shouta found it particularly interesting that the phone hadn’t been turned on. It almost felt deliberate.

For a whole night, people searched for her. They didn’t have any luck with finding her, though.

Then, someone had finally said it. The possibility, that she hadn’t just gotten lost, or anything. That she’d been kidnapped.

Shouta thought that it should have been the first thought anyone had. Just because there wasn’t a ransom notice of any kind didn’t mean that her getting kidnapped wasn’t the most obvious conclusion in the current situation.

By that point, after having had a whole night to think about it, there were a number of heroes aside from Shouta who stepped forward, pointing out little details that just simply didn’t make sense. That, or they felt deliberate.

Iida Tenshi asking for permission to stay over at a friend’s when she had no intention of staying there. Her actually packing an overnight bag. Her asking late at night, the previous day, giving very little time for her family to think about the suggestion before giving their answer and even less time to actually think about the decision after giving their answer. The phone that had not been turned on, meaning that it couldn’t be tracked.

They were little things. And yet, they were suspicious.

They were suspicious even if she was kidnapped. Because, if Shouta looked too far into them… it almost looked like she was working with her possible kidnappers.

That day was spent looking through hours of security camera footage, trying to catch sight of the little girl. Shouta had sat through hours’ worth of it, too, until he’d first caught sight of her in one. He’d been the first that whole day to do so… and immediately, he had known why.

She was supposed to be wearing a blue sweater and black shorts.

Not black leggings, a black skirt, a white hoodie and a black cap. She also wasn’t supposed to be with two teenage boys, both of who were hiding their features with black caps of their own, as well as white hoodies.

Once they had that new description, though… oh boy. Did they start catching sight of the trio more often. Almost too much, in Shouta’s opinion.

It was like they were everywhere. They’d been sighted walking around a lot. They’d passed by UA, the Iida Mansion, several hero agencies… It was almost like they had been flaunting the fact that they had and _no one had noticed_.

Shouta had sat by Tensei as he’d watched some of the footage. He’d watched as the trio passed _him…_ completely unnoticed.

In that particular footage, they’d been able to get a partial picture of one of the boys’ faces. The video had showed that after they had passed Tensei, he’d turned towards him… and smirked. He had smirked _so_ smugly. Almost like he had known that a security camera was watching him, and he’d done it deliberately.

When Tensei had tightened his fists so tight his knuckles were white and his arms were shaking in rage, Shouta hadn’t been able to do anything. He hadn’t even been able to promise that they’d get Tenshi back.

Because, the more he looked… the more it looked like she was cooperating with her captors. Not just because she had to, either, because… in several pieces of footage, she was shown laughing. She had been genuinely laughing at something her captors had been saying.

They’d managed to make her laugh when people had been trying for weeks, unsuccessfully.

It was around that same time, though, that they started wondering _why_ Tenshi was working with them. How she had known at all, to ask for permission to go over to a friend’s house. How she had known to make a distraction for them, because that’s what it was. A distraction to keep people from noticing she was gone.

While the Iidas had started thinking about the past weeks, thinking of all the people she could have interacted with who could have done any of it… Shouta had been stuck watching more security camera footage.

Until he hit a jackpot.

A video, of the three, leaving an alleyway. Tenshi had been standing in the middle, looking like she was concentrating, but also miserable. Like a little girl who had been trying to keep herself from bursting into tears. The boy on her right, the one who was carrying a sports bag, had already been wearing the black cap that had somehow always been tilted just right enough to hide his features. Like both he and his companion had known the exact placements of the cameras around the city.

But it was the boy on her left, who hadn’t had a cap on just yet. During the video, the other boy had dumped caps on both Tenshi’s and the other boy’s head, but for a few seconds, they had footage of the other boy with his face on full display.

The fact that Tensei and Tenya recognized him had been alarming enough. To hear that he had helped them pay for their shoppings two days before Tenshi went missing, that he’d taken only one pocky as payback, and then offered the nearly full packet to _Tenshi…_ that was very, very alarming.

Tensei hadn’t noticed him sneak anything into the packet, and it had been unopened before he had taken it. But he’d also noted that it was very uncharacteristic of Tenshi to eat even a single pocky, as she’d done almost immediately.

Shouta didn’t need to have seen the scene to guess that the boy had somehow snuck a message to her in that packet of pocky.

A search on the boy had brought up a name for them. Not very easily, though. It had taken them all too long to find him at all.

Midoriya Izuku. The green-haired and green-eyed boy with four freckles in the shape of a diamond on each cheek was called Midoriya Izuku. He was just turning 15 years old, and was going to Aldera Middle School.

He was also quirkless and as far as anyone knew, had no friends to speak of.

It was all just a clusterfuck from there.

Shouta had been there when the boy’s mother was questioned. He’d been there when his room was investigated. He’d been there when his teachers were questioned, and he’d heard about the statements given by his classmates.

The overall feeling to all statements was that no one could believe him to have done anything like it. Everyone, even his own mother, seemed to be saying the same thing – he was quirkless. He couldn’t have done anything of the sort. He was a shy and terrified boy who wasn’t very outgoing. The only one he really talked to was Bakugo Katsuki, his childhood friend, who the investigators described as more of a bully of the boy’s than anything. Everyone but his mother and Bakugo Katsuki claimed he had no friends.

But the two mentioned someone. Midoriya Inko said that her son had introduced the albino boy he’d brought home one day out of the blue as Byakuran. She hadn’t gotten any other name for him, and apparently Midoriya Izuku had been rather comfortable calling him that, so she hadn’t pried. She claimed that they had spent a lot of time together since then. A claim Bakugo Katsuki could at least somewhat agree with, as he had apparently seen the two together at Dagobah Beach once during his evening run.

An interesting claim by the teachers made Shouta wonder if the two had spent far more time together than anyone thought. Because apparently, Midoriya Izuku hadn’t been going to school for weeks. Weirdly enough, no one had thought to inform Midoriya Inko about this little tidbit, and she’d seemed very shocked by this. Apparently, as far as she knew, her son was very diligent. His grades weren’t good, by any means, but he spent almost all of his time studying, to keep up with the rest of his class.

At first, Shouta had thought he studied too much. It was possible for people to study so much, after all, that their grades started dropping. Too much information, and it didn’t all process the way it should have.

Then he’d seen the notebooks, and he found out that everyone was very, _very_ wrong. Either the kid was faking being a complete dumbass incredibly well, or the teachers were deliberately giving him bad grades for being quirkless.

(Unfortunately, it turned out to be the latter. The amount of deliberate sabotage this kid had to go through was so enormous that sometimes, Shouta wasn’t even surprised that he’d snapped.)

The things Midoriya Izuku knew about heroes was… Shouta couldn’t describe it. There was so much information. Not just basic things like quirks and agencies and name, but things like their private phone numbers and addresses and where their parents had gone to elementary school.

Shouta had felt a cold hand of dread squeeze his heart when he’d seen all the information the kid had on him.

There was a lot to unpack, when it came to Midoriya Izuku. The kid had clearly been bullied for his quirklessness for most of his life. He’d turned to obsessing over heroes, to an unhealthy and dangerous degree, considering the contents of his notebooks. He hadn’t had any friends to speak to, no one to socialize with, so he’d turned to his one and only hobby as solace.

But nowhere, not once, was there any indication whatsoever to whatever plan he and his friend had about kidnapping Iida Tenshi.

That was the thing that bothered Shouta the most. It wasn’t the almost completely unknown friend going by Byakuran, who no one seemed to be able to find, anywhere. No, what Shouta was bothered by was that they couldn’t find any proof that the kid had ever even heard the name Iida Tenshi.

Like everything about her had been wiped out from his possessions… and yet, not in a way that was obvious. It was so subtle, it took Shouta a while to notice. It was hidden in all the other information. Everything else overloading their brain, so they could barely notice that she wasn’t mentioned, not once. They were all so taken over by the dangerous information they found out about Midoriya Izuku that they forgot it was Iida Tenshi’s kidnapping that had brought them there.

It was too perfect. Too perfect to be coincidental.

But if it was deliberate…

“What do you think?” Tsukauchi asked him as they were looking over the case files. Because yes, at this point, four days in, they needed more than one file. Midoriya Izuku needed his own file, and his notebooks needed their own files. They still had almost nothing of Byakuran, aside from a basic description of his looks. They were still trying to search for any info on him, trying to figure out who he really was, but they were coming up with nothing.

Shouta thought about it. What did he think about this whole case? “… It’s too perfect to be coincidental. Which means it’s deliberate.”

Tsukauchi didn’t say anything. He stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. How he knew he had more to say, Shouta didn’t know.

“… But if it’s deliberate… It’s too perfect.” Shouta narrowed his eyes.

“Too perfect?” Tsukauchi blinked. “How so?”

“It’s too perfect for a couple of 15-year-old teenage boys who have never seen more than a D-rank villain at best in passing.” Shouta hummed. He didn’t like the thought, but… “This looks more like something career villains would do.”

Tsukauchi paused at that.

Shouta grimaced. “I don’t like it either, but… It’s too perfect. The distractions… the planning… It’s all too perfect.”

Tsukauchi didn’t say anything.

That said more than anything about his opinion on the matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my update schedule might not get as messed up as I anticipated at first. We will see after a couple of weeks how it will go, I guess.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kikyo comes home from his last day at work to chaos.

Kikyo had anticipated his Sky’s return. Since the moment he received his memories from the future, he had known that his Sky would return to his side. He didn’t know when or where, but he knew it would happen sooner rather than later.

He knew that everything wasn’t… exactly perfect, in that future. He had seen so many things there, during his time with Byakuran. It was all a bit much, he could admit as much.

But nothing changed the fact that Byakuran was his Sky, and he’d follow him to death.

There were some questionable things. There were a lot of questionable things. Kikyo did have questions, in regards to what Byakuran thought about what would happen to them, the Funeral Wreaths. About what his plans for them _after_ the final battle were, if he had any. Or if he just intended to let Ghost kill them.

He understood that the others may not be okay with that. He couldn’t say that he liked the idea of the rest dying like that, either.

But if it was him… He couldn’t say he was exactly okay with it, but he wasn’t as opposed to the idea as he might have expected to be.

Whatever the case was, he was okay with whatever Byakuran decided upon. Even if he may have his own thoughts of the matter… Byakuran was his Sky, and he would honor that until the bitter end.

Even if it led him into the hands of the Varia once more.

He was sure that the rest would have some… reservations, about joining Byakuran again. He was sure that like himself, they had gained their memories. He understood that they’d have those reservations. A lot had happened.

But Kikyo would not have those reservations. Because Byakuran was his Sky, he was _their_ Sky… and if need be, he’d be there, right next to him, convincing the rest of them.

Somehow, he’d just assumed that Byakuran would come for him first. Even when he had, at the very back of his head, known that even though he was the right-hand man, he wasn’t the most important of them all to Byakuran.

Still. He was a little surprised when he came to his one-room flat after his last day at work, having put in his resignation the moment he’d gotten his memories from the future, only to find two teenagers and a little girl there, arguing.

The moment he’d stepped inside his living room/bedroom area, Izuku was turning to him. He was wearing black jeans, a white shirt and a black hoodie on top of it, left opened. He glared at him from his perch at his dining table, pointing at Byakuran and Bluebell who were lounging on his bed. As he did, Kikyo took notice of the black gloves he was wearing. They almost looked like leather gloves. “Tell them!”

Kikyo blinked.

For a moment, everything was silent. Kikyo didn’t say anything. He didn’t even move. His… guests… didn’t make a sound, either. They just stared at him… expectant.

“… I think we broke him.”

“If Kikyo broke this easily then he wouldn’t have been our second-in-command you bastard.”

“Kikyo!” Bluebell whined. She pushed herself so that she was on her knees on his bed. Pouting, she crossed her arms over her chest. She was wearing a pair of jeans, as well as a black shirt made of a loose, flowy material that looked like it was great in hot weather. Her shoulders were left bare, but the sleeves started before her elbows and reached all the way to her hands, leaving just her fingertips uncovered. “Tell them!”

Kikyo blinked. “… What am I supposed to tell and to who?”

They all started shouting at the same time. Kikyo couldn’t understand what about, exactly. The most he could understand was something about Torikabuto, Zakuro and Daisy.

Izuku was the first of them to shut up. He buried his head in his hands. Vaguely, Kikyo got the feeling that he was sobbing.

Byakuran and Bluebell shut up soon afterwards. They both turned to stare at Izuku. Bluebell looked concerned, if a bit confused. Byakuran, though…

Kikyo had never seen him being so open. He’d never expressed himself so openly, with his face. But now, Kikyo could see that he was _beyond_ worried. He looked almost terrified. Of what, he wasn’t exactly sure. Of Izuku sobbing, perhaps?

Kikyo wasn’t blind. Byakuran might have thought he was, or that he was more subtle than he actually was, but Kikyo wasn’t blind by any means.

For a few moments, they were silent again. Then, Izuku raised his head and turned to look at Kikyo. To their relief, he didn’t seem to have been crying at all. “Plan.”

“Right.” Byakuran cleared his throat. Kikyo turned to him, just in time to see him turn towards him and smile widely. It wasn’t until now that he took note of how he was dressed, though. More casually than he had ever seen him, in ripped jeans and a black tank top. “We were talking about what to do next.”

“Bluebell wants to head to Australia for Daisy.” Izuku continued. Kikyo turned to him again, to see him looking at Byakuran and Bluebell with an expression that could only be described as him being so done with the both of them. “Byakuran keeps saying we have to start looking for Torikabuto. They’re _both_ ignoring the fact that we have to get Zakuro first.”

“No we don’t!” Bluebell shook her head. “Daisy is at a _mental ward_!”

“And he can stay there for a while longer.” Izuku sighed. He buried his head in his hands all over again. “He’s not going to die if he stays there for a week longer.”

“We’re never going to find Torikabuto if we don’t start looking for him.” Byakuran hummed. His eyes were open and he was staring, but it was different from before. Kikyo could see that while before, an open-eyed look from Byakuran was usually a threat or him being serious, now… it was more just him being confused, and curious. Curious about Izuku’s reasoning.

Indeed, Kikyo was a bit curious, too.

Izuku groaned. “You do realize that Zakuro is impatient as fuck?”

Ah.

Before either of the two could argue any more, Kikyo cleared his throat. They turned to him, obviously waiting for him to take one of their side.

“I have to agree with Izuku.”

“What?!” Byakuran and Bluebell gaped. While they were busy being shocked, Izuku bumped his arms into the air. “But why?!”

Izuku cleared his throat, getting their attention. “In case you haven’t noticed, Zakuro is a little impatient.”

“I’m afraid he will destroy his home island sooner rather than later.” Kikyo nodded. “It would be best to get him first, and look for the others afterwards. You said Daisy is in Australia?”

Bluebell nodded a few times. “Yup!”

“And Torikabuto is…?”

“Who knows?” Byakuran shrugged his shoulders. “I sure don’t.”

“He _was_ at South Africa when our memories returned.” Izuku glanced over to Kikyo. “But that was a while ago, so I’m not sure if he’s still there or if he’s on his way to find us or something.”

“How could he find us though?” Bluebell frowned, staring at Izuku. “We’re just going around. If he hasn’t caught up to us yet, I’m not sure he can?”

Kikyo wasn’t exactly sure either.

Izuku mumbled something.

“What?” Byakuran blinked.

“I’m sure if we just leave the lights on for the night, we’ll find him on the balcony come morning.” Izuku repeated a bit louder.

For a moment, none of them moved.

Then, Byakuran threw Kikyo’s pillow at Izuku. “He’s not _actually_ a moth!”

“He acts like a moth, so he is!” Izuku caught the pillow and threw it right back. It hit Byakuran square in the face. Rather than go down, though, he just pulled it off of his face and flung it to the side.

Unfortunately, Bluebell happened to be there. She did go down due to the pillow.

Kikyo stood there, in the entrance to his bedroom/living room, watching as two teenagers and a little girl created chaos as they started fighting.

To his slight surprise, though, it was nothing like what he expected. Though they were fighting… it looked more like play-fighting. Like they weren’t actually angry, or even annoyed at each other.

It looked… good.

He remembered Bluebell being a brat. There was no way around that. She’d been an absolute brat who hadn’t been afraid to complain. In his opinion, Byakuran had spoiled her a fair bit. Or maybe her biological family had spoiled her, and then she’d never been truly able to break out of that way of living even with the rest of them there. She’d had the gall to sometimes question Byakuran, or judge his actions. He had swiftly dealt with her every time… but she’d been a brat. A brat who was spoiled, but who was actually absolutely terrified of Byakuran. She’d been willing to do anything for him, and she’d respected him… but underneath all that, she’d been terrified of him.

Kikyo believed that when she’d first agreed to join Millefiore… she hadn’t truly understood what she was getting herself into. It wasn’t until she saw what Byakuran was capable of that she realized that it was all real… but by then, escaping had been impossible. The only thing she could do was stay, and hope that she could still be useful. She’d hidden away how terrified she was of him… but she’d still respected him.

Now… Well, Kikyo didn’t quite know what to think of her.

She was laughing. She looked just as much of a brat as she’d been before.

But her Flames… He couldn’t detect that underlying sense of fear anymore. That terror was gone… and warmth and content had replaced it.

It was quite the same with Byakuran himself. Before, he’d been...well. Hard to read. Even for Kikyo, he’d been hard to read. He’d been a terrifying man, a master manipulator. It was hard to read his Flames, and even more so his expressions.

Now, he was open. He was laughing, and Kikyo could tell that it was his true face. His Flames were all but singing, warm and content. There was fear… a fear of rejection, perhaps. He wasn’t quite touching Kikyo’s Flames, even though the moment he had stepped inside, the bond between them had settled. Kikyo could feel it – he could feel Byakuran, and Bluebell, and _Izuku_.

He could wholeheartedly admit that he didn’t really know Izuku. No one really did. He was an enigma… Byakuran’s favorite, yet the one who avoided all of them.

Kikyo knew that he had a dangerous quirk. He knew that Izuku had always seen them as his family, since Millefiore was first formed. No, since _Gesso_ was first formed. He’d always avoided them, though, so Kikyo had always felt like his quirk was beyond dangerous. The type that being too close to him too often could lead to them facing the consequences.

They had never really talked about it. To begin with, they didn’t talk a lot. When they did, it was usually about plans. Kikyo didn’t pry about his private life, and Izuku didn’t pry about his. They talked business… and that was it.

Kikyo could admit that he’d been jealous. Izuku had always been Byakuran’s favorite. He went to crazy lengths for him. He allowed him to do the kinds of things that the other Funeral Wreaths could only dream of being allowed to do.

Zakuro had wanted to go to Japan to eradicate the heroes. Kikyo had said he wouldn’t be able to do it alone, and offered to go with.

Byakuran had sent Izuku, all on his own. And Izuku had done it.

Byakuran of that future would have killed any one of them without hesitation, if they so much as tried to disobey a direct order from him. Especially if it was an order to stop, to stand down.

Izuku had lived through it. He’d disobeyed, and lived. He’d been arrested and placed into Vendicare, but Byakuran hadn’t minded. He’d bartered with Vindice, to get him out. And Kikyo knew he wouldn’t have for the rest of them.

It had been a bit sad, knowing that he was the second-in-command, and yet he was never going to be Byakuran’s favorite. He was never going to be allowed the same amount of freedom Izuku was.

But looking at him now… laughing and smiling… his Flames looking warm and content… yet anguished and terrified…

Kikyo didn’t know what that monster he had seen at the final battle was.

But he knew it wasn’t Izuku. And he knew he was terrified of becoming that monster.

Aah… He understood now.

They weren’t the same anymore. Bluebell wasn’t. Izuku wasn’t. Byakuran wasn’t, either.

Kikyo wasn’t the same anymore, either.

Something, beyond them getting their memories back, had happened. Something that had changed them.

It wasn’t a bad change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midoriya Izuku is on the news.
> 
> There are things that, no matter what experts claim, Midoriya Hisashi does not believe.

Midoriya Hisashi was a name very few knew. Even of the men who knew him as who he was, very few knew that his name was Midoriya Hisashi. As far as his underlings, his pawns, were concerned, his last name was Shigaraki. That was all they knew, because they considered themselves unworthy of knowing his first name. That was just for him to know.

There were other people who knew of his existence, of course. Those who knew he was still alive, but who didn’t quite know his name. Not his fake one, let alone the real one.

Those people just called him All for One.

A foolish man would think him to be a supervillain. Would think him to be the leader of the villain world.

That foolish man, for all that he had his little brother’s quirk, had no idea the kind of man his little brother actually was.

Hisashi had to admit, he quite enjoyed it, actually. His little brother had completely and utterly backed him into a corner. His quirk, passed down from hero to hero. His story, passed down. Ensuring that there was always someone who knew of him, ensuring that there was a hero always chasing after him. Making sure that every time that quirk was passed on, it gained more strength. It became more powerful. More likely to end him.

Stupid fools. Shimura Nana and Yagi Toshinori, and all of their predecessors since his little brother. They were all foolish little creatures who made assumptions without knowing the full story. They were stupid fools who didn’t understand the craftiness of the one they called One for All.

They were all too stupid to realize that a regular human didn’t have any chance of escaping from Hisashi now, let alone during his prime. That to have accomplished such an impossible feat… his brother must have been something much, much worse than anyone thought he was. Even worse than Hisashi himself.

It was the greatest deception of the millennium.

He’d been backed into a corner. World domination had never really been an option, since he let his brother escape. His brother had ensured that. His descendants… they were all too bloodthirsty. All too hungry to spill Hisashi’s blood, to tear his heart out and gloat to the rest of the world that _they_ had managed to kill him.

Not exactly what Hisashi would have expected from his brother’s blood. But, then again, maybe it was the lack of a quirk that made them so, so angry.

Angry, and tiny. He’d never liked having tiny balls of anger on the opposing side. They were just much too unpredictable. They had too much anger for their tiny bodies to handle, making it explode outwards. Usually at him.

That was one of the reasons he’d taken Tomura in. He didn’t want that particular tiny ball of anger turning against him. He had so much potential, after all. It would be a shame to see it go to waste.

If he left him to his own devices, he had no doubt that All Might would have eventually found him and told him all about him and Shimura Nana. That just wouldn’t do, obviously.

He was sitting on his hospital bed, absently humming as he thought of Tomura. He had potential, no doubt, but turning that potential into power wasn’t as easy as he had thought it would be. He was a surprisingly stubborn kid. He wanted power… but he didn’t really have the drive to train. He wanted to become strong, now, without the training.

In that regard, he hated having taken him in. He and his organization would have been much better off if he’d just kidnapped Sawada Tsunayoshi when he had the chance.

Damn Kurogiri and whoever he used to be before.

“New information… Iida Tenshi… found. Midoriya…”

If he could have blinked, he would have. Turning towards the source of the sound, he gave it his whole attention. Listening.

He could have sworn that he just heard…

“Sir?” He heard Garaki speak. “Is something the matter?”

“… What is that about?” He nodded towards the television. He couldn’t see, not when the top half of his face was gone, all due to that stupid All Might. But he still knew, could sense, with his quirks, that it was a television. He could still hear, what was being said.

“Oh?” He could sense Garaki turn towards the television. For a moment, he said nothing. Likely staring at the screen and trying to figure out what was going on and why it was of interest to them. To him.

Not so much to the rest of them… but it was of interest to him.

He was sure he’d heard the name Midoriya in there somewhere.

What had Inko done? She wasn’t the type to get into the news… and he hoped, he dearly hoped, that Izuku had gotten that from her. Or from him, because he didn’t like being in the news, either. It made everything that much harder, to be known like that.

“Oh! Yes, now I remember.” Garaki nodded a few times. “Some teenage boys kidnapped a Legacy a while back, it would seem. They’re still searching for them.”

… Some teenage boys, kidnapping a Legacy?

“Turn the volume up a little.”

He didn’t need to sense Garaki move. He heard the volume go up, just enough that he could clearly hear every word.

“… has shocked not only the heroes, but also the rest of Japan. Despite best efforts from heroes, police and even civilians alike, the trio has yet to be found anywhere in Japan. The police and heroes have yet to make more statements in regards to the ongoing investigation into the kidnapping. However, an inside source has revealed that yet another new, alarming piece of information has been found in regards to Midoriya Izuku, one of the two main suspects of the case. Our source does not clarify what this new piece of information is, but we have been led to believe that this soon-to-be 15-year-old could potentially be a major danger to Japan’s national security.“

Hisashi frowned. It pulled at the scars on his face, but he hardly cared.

Izuku? His and Inko’s Izuku? Kidnapped a Legacy?

What did they mean with him potentially being a major danger to Japan’s national security? Surely, they couldn’t have figured out the connection between them…

“Information shared to the public is still minimal in regards to both Midoriya-kun and his partner-in-crime. Back to the studio to you, Hino-san and Kawaguchi-san.”

“Thank you very much, Hoshino-san. Say, Kawaguchi-san, what do you think about this? I cannot say that you’re an expert in heroics, but you definitely have a certain insight into these things. You served as an assistant for a private investigator, no?”

“Indeed, something like that. I would not call myself an expert in the topic either, but I do find it very curious that neither Midoriya-kun nor his partner-in-crime have yet to be found. Considering that one of their identities is already known, we would assume that he, at the very least, would have been sighted already. On the other hand, his partner-in-crime is a rather interesting mystery. As far as I’m aware, even the police doesn’t seem to know much about him.”

“What are your thoughts on that, exactly?”

“I think that either the police and heroes aren’t doing their job properly… or the boys were very well prepared. If so… then I believe that the only reason we know that Midoriya-kun was involved is due to a coincidence. A miscalculation, perhaps.”

“I personally find it very odd that it seems to be the only miscalculation they have made, so far. You would expect two 15-year-old boys to be… less thorough, let’s just say that.”

“Possibly. However, I find it rather interesting. It shows that this isn’t something that they did on a whim. This isn’t a plan they have come up with on the fly. They’ve done extensive research on this, and they’ve taken nearly everything into account. The fact they haven’t been sighted could indicate that they’re wearing disguises.”

“Or that they’re not in the country.”

“I suppose… However, I’m not sure how they could have gotten out of the country at this point in time. As far as we know, none of them have passports, so unless they have a way of getting their hands onto fakes, getting out of the country would be very hard.”

“But it is a possibility?”

“I suppose so.”

“Personally, I have noticed that for a while now, Iida Tenshi seems to have taken a… backseat, so to say.”

“That seems to be true, yes. Since the police and heroes identified Midoriya Izuku as one of the two boys who were last seen with Iida Tenshi and they started investigating him, it had been almost like they have… forgotten, what it was that led them to Midoriya Izuku to begin with. Honestly speaking, it does worry me.”

“It’s almost like they’re expecting the girl to be dead.”

“I wouldn’t say that they expect her to be dead, but they’re definitely putting more attention into finding Midoriya-kun and his partner-in-crime than they’re putting attention into finding Iida Tenshi, I think.”

“Why do you think this is? What kind of reason could the police and heroes have for something like that?”

“I believe it could have to do with this new information we have about Midoriya-kun. That he’s possibly a major threat to Japan’s national security. We do not know what that means, exactly, as of yet, and we may never know.”

“Well, as this line of thinking seems to be running empty, I’m going to bring up a question that many have been asking. What do you think makes a 15-year-old do something like this?”

“Honestly? With what we know of Midoriya-kun’s history… I’m not too surprised.”

“You aren’t?”

“Police and heroes have known for decades that people like Midoriya-kun are most often the ones who turn to villainy. People in his position are particularly vulnerable. Often times they believe that if the public doesn’t accept them, then they have no other path in life except villainy.”

“But for a 15-year-old?”

“A 15-year-old boy who has been verbally and physically bullied for a decade because he’s quirkless.”

That was the point where Hisashi stopped listening. “Quirkless?”

“Yes.” Garaki hummed. “I remember him. It was around a decade ago, but his reaction was quite extreme, even for the diagnosis. I remember the boy completely shut down.”

Hold on. “You diagnosed him?”

“Yes.”

Why was this the first time Hisashi was hearing about this? He’d never heard that his son was quirkless!

Thinking about it, though… “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“… Sir?”

“Just tell me.”

Hisashi could remember being convinced that his brother was quirkless. That he had no talents, whatsoever.

Giotto had proved himself to be a sneaky little fuck, as always. Not only did he have a quirk… but he’d found a power that even Hisashi couldn’t understand.

A power he still couldn’t understand, but who everyone else from the other branches of their family were using like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“The same way I always do.” Garaki huffed. “He’s got the extra toe joint, you know.”

Hisashi felt like killing the man. “You know that isn’t a valid way to tell if someone is actually quirkless.”

“Maybe not for someone like you who is from the first generation.” Garaki shook his head. “But these days, it’s almost 100% sure, always. Considering the kid’s generation, too, there’s no way he could have the extra toe joint and have a quirk.”

Had he been anyone else, Hisashi would have facepalmed.

Why had Garaki never mentioned this before?

That may be his fault. He had wanted to keep Inko and Izuku as far away from his… business… as possible. To do so, he’d made sure that no one knew about them. Not even Garaki.

Had he known, from the very beginning… he probably wouldn’t have made such a mistake.

“No.”

“Sir?” Garaki asked.

“No son of mine could possibly be quirkless.” He ignored the sudden terrified gasp from his companion. Instead, he concentrated on his thoughts. His brother, assumed quirkless… only to have a quirk like One for All.

Hisashi didn’t believe, for one second, that his son was quirkless. There was no way he was quirkless.

He may not have inherited All for One. Probably not anything like Inko’s quirk, either, considering that people thought he was actually quirkless. Some modification of All for One, perhaps?

But there was one thing that he knew for a fact. That was that his son was not quirkless. Especially not if he and his friend managed to kidnap a Legacy and get away with it.

Speaking of… “Garaki.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Call Gigantomachia. I have a mission for him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things are discussed during the trip to Hawaii that leave Izuku confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if you guys are at school or university or something, but if you are: If the thought of going to a lecture or class makes you cry less than half an hour before said lecture or class, I think you're allowed to skip. I'd suggest contacting your teacher or someone about it, but that would be very hypocritical of me, so I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm just reminding you that your mental health matters and if you genuinely feel like this one lecture is too much right now, skip. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty about it, either. Your health is more important than a single class.

It was surprisingly easy to get into an airplane to Hawaii once they had an adult with them. Even if Kikyo was quite young, saying that he was Izuku’s and Bluebell’s older brother got them a pass. Making up a story about how they were going to visit their grandfather who had moved to Hawaii had been a whim on the spot, but it had made the security personnel much more content with their situation. Though they had wondered about Byakuran.

Izuku had just scrambled for an explanation about how they were best friends and their grandfather really liked him and had always been like a grandfather to him. Somehow, they’d bought it.

Izuku could hardly believe it had been that easy.

“Come on, guys!” Bluebell had her phone out. She leaned against Byakuran, who was sitting next to her. She held her phone close to the window, and as Izuku glanced over, he saw that she was taking a selfie. All four of them were somehow fitted into the frame, seated right next to each other as they were. “Smile!”

Surprised, Izuku did. The next thing he knew, she’d taken the picture.

While she started doing something else on her phone, Izuku noted that she got a few looks. Specifically, her phone got a few looks.

It wasn’t like he didn’t understand. Bluebell was, after all, holding onto a sleek black smartphone unlike anything else in the current time. Even in the future, Izuku hadn’t seen anything like it, suggesting that it was rather new even there.

Already the fact that no one had seen a phone of that model before gathered her looks. But the fact that Millefiore’s logo was on the back of it in blue made even more people glance their way. It would have been different if she had had a phone case on. But the fact that the symbol was on the _phone_ made it turn heads their way.

Especially since the rest of them also had the same customized phones. They all had the same Millefiore symbol at the back, in the color of their Flames.

Izuku was a tiny bit concerned. They hadn’t spent too much time over at North Korea after they’d arrived there. Really, they’d just stayed there for the night before they’d left to China, crossing the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge to do so. But that time they’d spent there had been… a wild ride.

Izuku kind of wanted to ask when Byakuran became the king of North Korea, but he also didn’t want to know how long the rest of the world had already been ignorant to the death of the previous president.

But clearly, he’d been the king for a while now. There was no way he hadn’t been the king for _a while_. Izuku hadn’t known their technology was so advanced, or that they were capable of half of the things that were already happening over there. He had had this idea that the country was rather poor… but oh boy, was he wrong.

Example number one. Their phones.

Example number two. Rings.

Example number three. Boxes. Specifically, normal Box Weapons. From the look of things, they were doing pretty well when it came to the Asura Boxes, even, and they should be finished in no time at all.

Example number four. Izuku’s gloves.

He hadn’t understood, at first, when Byakuran had dumped them on him. He’d been so confused at that point. But then he’d brought forth the people who had made them, and they’d explained it all. From how Byakuran had told them about his quirk to figuring out the right material to actually fitting them for his hands when he wasn’t even there.

So, yeah. Now Izuku had black leather gloves that were actually light and not the least bit uncomfortable that effectively made it impossible for him to use his quirk through them.

Izuku’s honest opinion about North Koreans was that they were all insane. He supposed the decades they’d spent cut off from the rest of the world had done things to their heads.

Byakuran being their new king didn’t help matters.

That wasn’t to say that all of their advancements were in technology and weapons industry (yes, rings and Box Weapons had to be placed into that category). Izuku supposed that those were the things that sold easily in the current situation, ensuring a steady income for the country. With that money, they were advancing fast to becoming one of the first world countries. Healthcare, education and other necessities were revamped where necessary.

It was rather amazing, Izuku supposed. That Byakuran had been able to bring the country so far in so little time, especially when he spent so much time away from it. Even without him, things were running smoothly with Nam in charge.

With the way things were, MNet would probably be up and running smoothly in less than a month.

“Look at this.” Kikyo suddenly said from next to him. Izuku turned to him, only to see him with his own phone out. He was holding the screen up for him to see.

As he leaned forward a little to see, he absently noted that Byakuran did as well. Bluebell was probably still busy with her phone. Probably cursing that they couldn’t get MNet up just yet.

He wondered how she will take it once she hears that she’s too young to join it.

Well, Byakuran will probably do some kind of exception for her anyways. With their memories of the future, Bluebell _was_ in her mid-teens. They could probably let her join MNet and she probably wouldn’t be in any danger, or anything.

He was going to trust Byakuran’s judgement on that. Even if he might question it at some point.

Turning his attention to the screen, he mentally sighed at the headline.

It was an article in a Japanese news site. Like every other news outlet in Japan, this one too was taking everything out of Bluebell’s disappearance. Or, Iida Tenshi’s disappearance, as they knew her. Only the people who had memories of what happened in the future would know that her name was Bluebell, and most wouldn’t know to connect her with Iida Tenshi.

Now that was a thought.

“So, what?” He reached over and scrolled down to see more of the article. “Is there anything new here?”

“Aside from you being a threat to national security?” Kikyo chuckled.

“That’s nothing new.” Byakuran hummed. Izuku felt him place his chin on his shoulder, and he let him. Being close to him like this was… comforting. Even though he hated to be touched, if only due to his quirk, it made him feel happy that people weren’t afraid of touching him. That they trusted him to be able to control himself.

It made him so much more determined to control his quirk.

“Apparently, they’re closing… what was it called? Aldera Middle School?” Kikyo turned the screen towards himself again, scrolling around for a moment as he searched the name.

“They are?” Izuku’s eyes widened, even as he blinked. “Why?”

Kikyo gave him a look. It honestly looked weird on his face. He almost looked like he thought Izuku was an utter dumbass.

Byakuran laughed. Despite being right next to his ear, it somehow didn’t sound too bad. “You’re a genius, Izu-kun, but sometimes, you’re so dumb!”

Frowning, he turned to look at him. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“They’re closing the school for their misconduct and neglect for their students.” Kikyo sighed. As Izuku turned to him, he saw him shaking his head, his eyes closed. “As far as, well, _everyone_ is concerned, you wouldn’t have done what you did if not for the bullying problem they allowed to run rampant.”

“What?” Izuku blinked. He’d been watching the news, to see what was being said. He knew that his identity had been discovered within a couple of days, and that since then, the news had been filled with different headlines about him. For some reason, Bluebell and her disappearance had taken a backseat while he became the main focus.

He supposed it was because of the notebooks. He knew he had forgotten _something_ when they left, but those hadn’t even crossed his mind.

At least Byakuran’s reaction to that realization, after the news started filling with news about him, had been to laugh.

It wouldn’t have been, before.

“Everyone thinks that you snapped.” Byakuran smirked. But it wasn’t the same type of smirk as before. Now, it was just a sharp smile. Warm, and the danger underneath was missing.

At least for now, when he was with his family.

“They’re convinced that if the bullying had been stopped, then you wouldn’t have done anything at all.” Byakuran added. “Considering that the staff at Aldera let it happen, even though they knew about it… yeah. They can’t replace everyone in such a short amount of time.”

“But why do they think that?” Izuku just couldn’t understand that. How could they come to such a wrong conclusion?

Kikyo stared at him for a moment, contemplative. Calculative, almost. “… You thought you were quirkless for a decade. Everyone thought you were.”

Izuku wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything.

“… You got bullied. A lot. Harshly. There’s no getting around that.” Kikyo was still staring at him. As though he was trying to see past some kind of facade. Almost like he was suddenly _seeing_ past something. “From what everyone knows, you have just the history that makes a person vulnerable to snapping like this.”

… Oh. “I never thought of that.”

He thought that Byakuran, at least, would laugh. But he didn’t.

Izuku turned to look at him. He blinked when he saw his expression. There was something… sad, about it.

The moment he realized he was staring at him, Byakuran put on a smile. It was a convincing smile, and if Izuku hadn’t seen the expression before, he might have believed it was genuine. But he’d seen it. He could see that the sadness hadn’t disappeared… he was just hiding it.

For his sake.

Even though he had absolutely no idea why, it made Izuku feel happy.

“Izu-kun really is dumb sometimes!”

Izuku sweat-dropped. “ _That’s_ all you have to say about me?”

“I mean, I have a lot of other things to say about you.” Byakuran grinned. “Like, lots. Lots and lots.”

“Bad things?” Izuku raised an eyebrow. He made sure that his expression and voice were light. He made sure his Flames were light.

But deep inside, he was just a bit scared.

“Good things!” Byakuran pouted briefly, before he smiled widely, his eyes closing even. “Only the best things, when it’s Izu-kun!”

“How good?” Bluebell pouted, leaning against Byakuran’s side. “Better than what Byakuran has to say about me?”

“Better!” Byakuran laughed. His expression changed a bit, and Izuku couldn’t help but pause.

That expression… That smile, and those warm and content eyes… the gaze in them was almost like the manipulative gleam he’d always had in his eyes, but… different.

Izuku didn’t know what it was, really.

“There’s very few people who I’d have better things to say about than of Izu-kun.” He chuckled lightly, almost mischievously, glancing over at Izuku briefly before turning to Bluebell again. “After all, if it weren’t for the fact that I have another soulmate, I’d definitely date him.”

Izuku choked on his own spit.

“What?!”

Byakuran looked at him with wide eyes. He still had a smile on his face, though. “Hmm?”

“What did you just say?”

Byakuran just laughed. He stood up from his seat and all but jumped over their legs to get to the corridor between the seats. “I’m going to the bathroom~!”

“Wait a minute!” He tried to turn on his seat, but Byakuran had already gotten too far. Izuku had no intention of actually running after him and chasing him around the plane. That would just bring unwanted attention to them.

Instead, he sat back down and looked at Kikyo. Gaping, he pointed after their boss, clearly asking him what that was about.

Kikyo just turned away, with a weird expression on his face. He almost looked amused.

A glance at Bluebell showed that she was giggling.

Izuku was left sitting there, confused beyond belief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> There's actually a few things I want to bring up now. I mean, as I've said before, I'm pretty far ahead with this story. Like, I have a lot written compared to what's posted. I'm not sure you guys even realize how much? Like, this is a lot. This story is currently the longest story I've ever written, and what I've posted is a small amount of the chapters I have written. So, like, some things are already decided on and going back and changing them is going to be too difficult for me to bother with. But there are a couple of things I want your opinions about.
> 
> First off, MNet. While it's not really explained a lot in this chapter, I'm going to spoil it enough by telling you it's a social media platform. What I want to know is how much of it would you like to see? I'm at a point where I have used it in some chapters, but it's only in a few chapters so far. I know it will be hard to answer this question, considering you guys don't know what it's going to be like yet, but it's a question I want to ask you, regardless.
> 
> Second off, which is probably the more important one, actually. Or not, because this story and the characters have gone out of control and decided on things I didn't plan for and at this point I feel like I'm a bearer of news rather than me asking for your opinion on the matter. But I will actually ask it, because I feel like I'm a nice person and at the very least this is going to be a tiny warning/spoiler? Anyways. How do you guys feel about relationships between canon characters and original characters? I'm asking this more to see if you guys are open to them or not. I mean, I know that I'm not their biggest fan, but I can still read stories with pairings like that.
> 
> Regardless, this is still my story and I will write it as I want to. Even though I do ask for suggestions on quirks and pairings and ask for your opinion on other things, in the end, I write it the way I want it to be. And I mean, like I said, I've written so much that some things I just can't go and change anymore. Depending on what I would have to change, it could have a drastic impact on the plot.
> 
> If you have questions regarding the two situations above (whether it be about MNet or the pairings thing), ask away! I'll try to answer it the best I can.
> 
> By the way, I know practically nothing about North Korea. Just saying. I'm mostly writing this based on my imagination and a bit of wikipedia (This applies to a lot of things, actually, and not just the parts about North Korea)


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group runs to a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again a reminder that I'm using my imagination and wikipedia as my resources so everything might not be accurate. There's the problem of limited information I have plus I may have misunderstood things, so there is a high possibility of there being inaccuracies when it comes to the locations in this fic.
> 
> Also, I just want to say that I love you guys.

Kai had always been a sickly child. For as long as he could remember, he’d gotten sick very easily. Where his brother had been running around and getting into fights, he’d been stuck in bed.

He still was, actually. Even now, while his brother was doing his best to keep the two of them afloat, Kai was useless. He was just sick… and sick… and sick. It was like he just simply couldn’t get better. Like the useless waste of space he was.

If he wasn’t, then surely he could do that much, at least? He could get better, and continue going to school, and get an education. He could get an education and then he could help his brother.

But he couldn’t. Because he was constantly sick.

It wasn’t like they could afford to go and see a doctor, either. They didn’t have enough money for that. Not when they were struggling to just survive through another day.

It would be easier for his brother if Kai was dead. Then, he wouldn’t have to worry about him, on top of everything else. He would just have to worry about himself. He could get a better life, even with the meager payment he got.

It was ridiculous, really. Even Kai knew that. There was no way his brother made that little at work.

They just weren’t being paid as much as they should have been. Just because of who they were.

It made no sense. It was ridiculous.

If only their parents were still alive. Not that they had been any richer, but at least then, things had been easier. Or, at least, so it seemed to Kai.

Maybe things had never been fine. But at least their parents had acted like everything had been fine.

Maybe that was why they were dead.

It was laughable, almost. Thinking about it all. The past, of how he had wanted to run with his brother all around, had wanted to play with him. But he’d always been sick, and their parents had made sure he knew that, had held him back. As much time as his brother had spent out, Kai had spent inside. And then their parents had died, and his brother had to be responsible for both of them. He’d been managing, _they_ had been managing, but…

Kai didn’t know how long they could. How much longer they could go on like this. He didn’t know if they _could_.

He didn’t know if _he_ could go on like this.

Was he even worse than usually, or was that just his imagination?

…

The nice thing about having memories from the future was that they knew each other. They knew the others existed. They knew whatever life stories they had been told before. Every bit of info they’d known before, they could still remember it.

The bad thing was that Byakuran had no clue whatsoever where he’d picked up every one of these bastards from.

So, he remembered he found Bluebell at a hospital. Izu-kun had been in Japan, in Musutafu, and that was about as detailed as he could get about any of their locations the first time around. Kikyo he’d found somewhere in China, and Zakuro somewhere in Hawaii. He was fairly certain he’d found Daisy in Australia, but he wasn’t sure if that was right or not. Torikabuto… he had no clue.

Like, getting his memories from the future was _great_! He could remember all these great people. He could remember his family. He knew that they existed, and although he was terrified that they wouldn’t accept him, he still loved the very idea that they existed. It was why he had gone to find them to begin with, aside from the fact that he could feel that something was coming. Just like Bluebell, he wanted his family to be whole again. And, well, even if someone didn’t want to join them, that was fine – Byakuran could deal with his family being a little smaller, if one of his Elements hated him. He was fine with that.

He had to be.

But the Byakuran from the future hadn’t really been sane at any point in his life. His memory was all over the place on a good day, and the day he had died hadn’t been a good one. Which meant that his memory from the future was pretty fucked regardless.

So, yeah, no, he had no clue where Zakuro lived. All he knew was that Zakuro grew up in Hawaii.

Then again, based on the looks he got from his three companions, even they had known that much.

They really looked like siblings, though. Izu-kun and Kikyo definitely could pass off as siblings, with both of their hair and eyes being green. Kikyo’s hair was just light enough that it was believable that someone related to him could have light blue hair, like Bluebell’s.

It was amazing how alike three people who weren’t related at all could look.

Someone snapped their fingers in front of his face. Flinching away, he blinked. Unsurprisingly, he found Izuku glaring at him. “Focus!”

Right. Zakuro.

“You really can’t remember where he lived? Even the village?” Kikyo asked, for who knows how many times already. He seemed like he was getting ready to give up, just a little. On what, Byakuran wasn’t exactly sure. On trying to get him to remember, probably. Hopefully.

“Nope!” Byakuran laughed. Inside, he was feeling terrible. He tried to hide the emotion by forcing his Flames to feel mischievous, but by the way Izu-kun’s Lightning brushed against his, and Bluebell’s Rain created a blanket over him, and Kikyo’s Cloud poked at him reproachfully, he knew he failed. At least, he failed to hide his emotions before they could notice them.

He hated this.

His Funeral Wreaths were his family. Izu-kun, Kikyo, Bluebell, Zakuro, Daisy and Torikabuto. They were his _family_. They weren’t like Sho-chan, who was his best friend. These people were his _family_.

Why could he not remember such a simple thing as where they grew up? Why couldn’t he remember such a simple detail as the name of the village they’d grown up in?

He hated this.

“Okay.” Izu-kun clapped his hands. He turned away from Byakuran, but not so completely as to cut him out of their little circle. He just brought the attention to the center, and to himself. “So… what _do_ we know about Zakuro’s life before, exactly?”

“Not much.” Kikyo admitted. He hummed and stroked his chin, glancing upwards to the sky as he tried to remember.

Honestly, it made Byakuran feel a little better. Not much, but a little.

He wasn’t the only one who didn’t know things about the rest.

He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. This time… this time, he’d remember. He’d do better, as a Sky.

“He grew up somewhere in Hawaii.” Bluebell pointed out the obvious. The one thing that even Byakuran knew.

“We know he grew up here in Molokai.” Kikyo gestured around them.

“How, exactly?” Byakuran couldn’t remember that ever being mentioned. In fact, as far as he could remember, Zakuro had never mentioned the exact island, just Hawaii. Yet somehow, Kikyo, Izu-kun and even Bluebell had known that they had to come to Molokai, specifically, to find Zakuro.

“Because it was the only one of the Hawaiian islands that wasn’t on the map in the future.” Bluebell looked at him like he was an idiot. Maybe he was. “You made him destroy the island he grew up at, remember?”

Oh. That was true.

“So, by logic, Molokai is the island he grew up on.” Izu-kun helpfully added. “What else? We all went through some kind of misfortune, right? What was Zakuro’s?”

“I’m pretty sure he lived in poverty.” Kikyo looked around. “Though, of what I know, that’s not so unusual here.”

“But it gives us something!” Izu-kun insisted. He turned to look down at the ground with a frown. He hummed, pursing his lips. “So, he lives in poverty. We know he was fairly strong to begin with, so physical labor, probably. In these conditions, that probably means he’s working at a farm.”

“Didn’t he also lose a relative just before he met us?” Bluebell asked.

Byakuran frowned. “… Yeah, now that you mentioned...”

“So, losing a relative… that could mean that they live somewhere further away from a hospital. Or they just don’t have the funds?” Izu-kun’s frown deepened. He looked up at Kikyo. “Opinions?”

“It seems solid so far. Honestly, it could be either of the two.” He hummed. “I think we should...”

They all felt it at the same moment. Kikyo stopped speaking, his eyes widening as he gasped. Izu-kun’s jaw fell, but no noise left him. Bluebell shrieked a little, looking around.

Byakuran felt his Flames scream and sing at the same time. Sing, because that was his _Storm_. Scream, because of the complete and utter _anguish_ he could feel. Even without the bond between them, even when he wasn’t right there next to them, he could still feel it.

Even Izu-kun hadn’t felt this anguished since they returned to the past.

No one needed to be told anything. They just turned around and started running. Spreading out their senses, they reached for Zakuro’s Flames, for that Storm Flame, calling for it. They ran, and ran, towards him. Trying to figure out why he was so anguished. They helped each other, keeping each other from falling as they ran, holding onto each other when one of them got left behind. They called for Zakuro to come and meet them with their Flames… but he wouldn’t.

Eventually, they came upon a little shack on a hill. That’s what it really was. It wasn’t even close to a proper house. Calling it a little shack, even, was putting it nicely.

They could feel, taste, hear, see, Zakuro’s Flames inside.

There was no door. They could just walk in. There was no one over there, they couldn’t see anyone anywhere near. Like the little shack was just… standing there, in the middle of nothing.

They hurried inside. They didn’t have to look around for long before they found Zakuro. He was seated on his knees on the floor, in front of a makeshift mattress on the floor. Laying on it was a boy.

Byakuran stopped dead as he saw him.

He was young. Younger than he and Izu-kun were, but not as young as Bluebell. He was tiny, and frail. His skin was sickly pale, even more so than Byakuran’s own skin, or anyone else’s he’d ever seen. On top of his head was a mop of red hair. It was matted and sweaty. Sweat dripped down the boy’s face.

He was barely breathing.

The moment that little fact processed in Byakuran’s head, that the boy’s chest was just barely moving up and down, he dashed forward. He fell onto his knees on the other side of the boy. He didn’t care about the pain that shot through him at that. No, none of that mattered.

What mattered, was Zakuro.

He reached over for Zakuro’s shoulder, just as Bluebell fell onto her knees next to him and wrapped her arms around him.

Zakuro, sitting there and staring with wide eyes, unseeing, tensed up. Just a tiny bit, but enough for them to notice. He kept on staring at the boy, barely breathing himself.

A tear escaped the corner of his eye.

“… Why?” Zakuro didn’t look away from the boy. “Why are you here?”

“… For you.” Byakuran didn’t know how else to answer. What else could he say?

They were there for Zakuro. They’d come all this way, for _him_. To ask if he still wanted to be a part of their family.

Zakuro laughed. It sounded empty, hollow. “I didn’t ask you to.”

“… But we came anyways.” Byakuran swallowed thickly.

Zakuro laughed again. It turned into a sob.

Bluebell tightened her arms around him. It took Byakuran a moment to notice that she was dousing him in her Rain Flames… calming him down.

Why hadn’t he thought of that before?

“It wasn’t like this.” Zakuro cried. He turned to glare at Byakuran. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this! What did you do?!”

Byakuran blinked.

“Zakuro?” Kikyo carefully stepped forward. “What do you mean?”

“This!” Zakuro shouted. He let out a sob, and turned to look at the boy. “Kai… It… this isn’t… He didn’t die this early last time! This… This isn’t supposed to happen...”

… Oh.

Byakuran looked down at the boy.

… This was the relative. The relative who had died the last time around. The one who had died just before Zakuro met Byakuran.

He was already dying.

But… that wasn’t…

Byakuran turned to look down at his lap. His hand slowly fell off of Zakuro’s shoulder.

It wasn’t… It wasn’t easy, to have one of his old Elements reject him like this.

It hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a nice day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I know it wasn't much, but the next chapter will be longer! I'm not sure when I'll post it, though. I'll see first if this gets any interest and try to see when I'll have a good slot of time to do that.
> 
> By the way, I am open to suggestions! Specifically in regards to relationships and quirks for the KHR cast. I have some ideas myself, but like I said, I'm open to suggestions. As I've mentioned before, there will be no smut in this fic, but this a soulmate au. You can go a bit crazy with your suggestions when it comes to who are paired as soulmates.


End file.
